School of Music and Heart
by monica85
Summary: non magic story. harry returns to another year at Hogwarts School of Art and Music where he meets a new student. this is a HPDM story.warnings: rated R for abuse, rape, violence. COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note

Hi. My name is Monica (I am sure you didn't guess that from my author's name). Anyway this is my first fic that I write and to tell you the truth this is the first time I have actually tried to write anything. So please if anyone wants to review I am ok with being criticized but keep in mind that I have never done this before. Also I am not sure where the story is really going, I just have a small idea in my head.

Warnings: This will probably be Harry/ Draco or Harry/Snape so don't read if you don't like. You have been warned so please no flames. Also I have rated this as R due to abuse themes, rape and adult stuff.

Disclaimer: as much as I would like to, I don't own any of the characters and I can only wish that my writing is not too bad.

Anyway, with this being said, enjoy the story…

Chapter 1 (extraordinary title I know)

Harry Potter was a 16 year old teenager with messy hair and beautiful, deep green eyes. He attended Hogwarts High, a prestigious music school paid from a trust fond that was left by his parents in their will. For Harry's parents had died in a tragic car crash when he was only one year world leaving him as the only survivor. He didn't remember the car crash of course but the lightning bolt scar that he had on his forehead was a good reminder of what could have been his family.

Harry lived with his relatives: a huge Uncle ("Uncle" Vernon) that hated him more than anything (and showed this in every possible way), a skinny aunt ("Aunt" Petunia), and a stupid cousin who had the looks of his father (Dudley). His home life was far from perfect but besides him and his relatives no one knew about this – he didn't want people to know about his home life, he didn't want pity and his only hope was that one day he would be able to move away from his relative's grasp.

This summer had been a bad one, he thought, as he embarked once again on the train that would take him for one whole school year away from his relatives. He hoped that the moment he would turn 18 he'd be able to have a small place for himself and never see Them again. But that was 2 years away and he knew there was no use to think so far ahead.

Right now all he needed to do was to find a good excuse on why he hadn't been able to rehearse much this summer. His piano teacher - Professor Snape would probably be happy to give him a bad mark on his first day back. Harry knew for sure that the man really did hate him, though he didn't have any clue to why. As for his violin teacher – Professor McGonagall she would probably tell him yet again how disappointed she was in him.

He had gotten used to this over the years. Every summer was the same. Though his uncle and aunt allowed him to go to Hogwarts they would not allow him to practice and his violin (one of his most treasured possessions) would be locked away in the cupboard under the stairs which used to be his bed.

While staring out the window and thinking about the summer events, trying hard to move on from them, throw them in the back of his mind, he didn't notice the compartment door open or the person that sat by him trying to get his attention.

End of chapter 1.

Well this is it, my first chapter from my very first story ever. I hope it wasn't too bad.

Please, please (yes I am begging) review.

Thanks.


	2. chapter 2

 Warnings:  This will probably be Harry/ Draco or Harry/Snape so don't read if you don't like. You have been warned so please no flames. Also I have rated this as R due to abuse themes, rape and adult stuff.

Disclaimer: as much as I would like to, I don't own any of the characters and I can only wish that my writing is not too bad.

Chapter 2

Ronald Weasley came from a family of nine. He was taller than most teenagers his age and you could recognize him anywhere because of his red hair that was specific for his family. He had met Harry when he first started Hogwarts High two years before and they had become best friends from their first conversation. Even so Ron knew nothing about Harry's home life, except that his relatives didn't like their nephew very much and from time to time they would feed him less than they should have.  This is why he didn't think much of the bruise that Harry had on his cheek and which he noticed the moment he entered the compartment.

Ron was late again so he wasn't able to meet Harry on the platform. But every year was the same:  they would share a compartment and they would be joined by their best friend Hermione Granger who usually came sometime in the middle of the train ride after spending time with Neville, helping him with the last minute homework.

Ron entered the compartment expecting a cheerful Harry but all he got was Harry staring at the window not paying attention to anything that was happening around him. Ron immediately saw the large bruise on his cheek but he let it go waiting to be noticed by his best friend.

Five minutes past and Harry didn't seem to acknowledge him so he tried getting his attention.

"Hey Harry!" Ron said. Nothing. He tried again. When he saw that the attempts were useless he touched Harry's shoulder and the reaction he got was not what he had expected. Harry violently turned around ready to strike at the intruder.

"Wow, what's with you? You looked like you wanted to kill me" said Ron. After taking a few calming breaths (which hurt a bit since he probably had a bruised rib) Harry said:

"Sorry Ron I was just lost in my thoughts and you startled me that's all. You know how I get when people do that. Anyway when did you get here, I didn't hear you? ".

"Since you were many miles away from here I don't suppose you did. Anyway I just got here 5 minutes ago, and I have been trying to talk to you since. So what's with the bruise? The one on your cheek. You got into a fight with your cousin again? "

"Yeah… yeah I did". Ron didn't need to know that his cousin decided to use him as a punching bag again and that he had called his best friend Piers to have fun also. He also didn't need Ron to know that they had tied him to the tree in the back yard and had left him there unconscious after beating him savagely. Of course his aunt only released him because someone needed to cook dinner and she wasn't going to,  that's for sure. Of course most of his wounds were now almost healed since his uncle usually didn't beat him too bad in the last week of holiday and he didn't allow his cousin to either. "We can't let people know that I have to hit you in order to keep you a good boy" is what his uncle told him a week before he left that dreadful house for another school year.

"Harry you're zoning out again…Harry!?"

"Sorry, got lost in my thoughts again. So how was your holiday Ron? Anything interesting happened? "    Harry wasn't able to talk to his friends during holiday time since his uncle and aunt didn't allow him to answer or talk on the phone and all letters were first scanned by his uncle. Therefore the three months of holiday were always three months of isolation, away from his friends.

"Well mum, dad, Ginny and I went to Romania to visit Charlie. It was really great. We went to Bran Castle it's where Dracula used to live. Really I saw the best places there. To bad Percy wasn't with us we could have locked him in a dungeon or something. "

"So how is Percy doing? Does he like his new job?"

"I think he likes it too much. All he talks about are his office reports and his boss. Getting annoying really and very boring. Mind you it was always boring listening to him".

The two continued talking about Ron's summer, about what pranks his twin brothers (Fred and George) pulled this summer so Ron was able to drag Harry out of the depressing mood he was at the beginning of the train ride.

Half an hour before arriving to Hogwarts, the compartment's door was opened yet again, revealing their best friend Hermione Granger.

End of chapter 2

Well this was chapter 2.

Sorry if it's a bit boring.  I am doing the best I can but as I said this is the very first time I have tried writing anything. If you have any ideas please tell me. Also I have to decide whether this will be HP/DM or HP/SS so please vote. I will announce this in chapter 4 (if I actually get there). I will post another chapter as soon as I can but only if I get reviews.

Next chapter: Hermione and arriving to Hogwarts.

Please review. As I said I don't care whether it's flames or nice thoughts just review

Thanks.      

p.s. I want to thank Bgirlcooli for being my first reviewer


	3. chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters as much as I would have like to…

Chapter 3

Hermione was one of the smartest students in Hogwarts High and definitely the most talented when it came to playing the piano (she enjoyed it as much as Harry loved playing his violin at any hour of the day). After spending too many hours helping Neville with his homework she finally got the chance to go and see her best friends, Harry and Ron. Though she didn't want to admit it she felt that she liked Ron in a different way that the way she felt about Harry. Not that she didn't like Harry but she definitely felt for Ron a lot more than friendship.

"Hey guys!" Hermione said the minute she entered the compartment and after that she gave them a hug noticing of course the bruise on Harry's face.

"Hey Hermione, it's great to see you."

"Great to see you to Harry. So did you lose a fight with a door?" she said pointing to the bruise.

"Very funny Hermione."

"So how was your summer?" Ron changed the subject, noticing his friend's tenseness.

"It was great Ron. I didn't do much but I finally got to spend a quite summer with my friends back home. What about yours?"

And so they continued talking about Ron's summer (Harry avoiding to talk about his as much as possible) and finally they made it to Hogwarts. (A/N I bet you didn't think I would finally get here)  

Hogwarts High was a boarding school situated in the north of England. The school was actually an old castle that was a surrounded by a huge forest in which the students weren't allowed (hence the name The Forbidden Forest) but of course there was always someone braking the rules (rules are made to be broken).

Harry loved the place; it was the only place that he could call home. Of course the Dursley's offered him a place to stay but he was always isolated there, he had no friends. The moment that he had started Hogwarts High, he felt that he had finally found a place to call his home.

All students gathered in the Great Hall, waiting for the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore to make his little speech and then they could start eating (Harry was dying for this part to come since he hadn't eaten anything in two days).

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts High. Before I allow you to continue with the feast I have two announcements to make. The first one is that the Forbidden forest is still forbidden. I address this not only to our first years but also to some of out older students who tend to disregard this rule" (both Harry and Ron shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, feeling the headmaster's gaze turning upon them). " Also I would like to welcome a new student who has transferred from Durmstrang High and will be in his fifth year: Draco Malfoy. I hope you will make him feel welcome. Now, let the feast begin!!!"

Harry watched the new student who was looking around for a place to sit. Hermione also noticed this and since she always liked to make new friends and Draco was also in their year,  she went to him, inviting him to their table.

"Hi. I'm Hermione Granger. "

"Draco Malfoy. Nice to meet you. "

"My friends and I were wondering if you'd like to join our table."

"Sure that would be great – i don't know anybody else so why not?"

Arriving at the table where she was seated Harry and Ron also introduced themselves.

"Hi, I'm Harry Potter and this is my friend Ronald Weasley".

"Hi, Draco Malfoy. The Harry Potter? I've heard about your mum she was a really talented violin player." After seeing the pained look that crossed Harry's face he instantly regretted his words, remembering that Harry's parents had died when he was little. "Sorry I didn't mean to offend you".

"That's ok. People talk about her a lot and this is the reaction I get every time someone hears my name. So what instrument do you play?"

"Piano is my first. Uncle Severus thinks I have a lot of potential. "

"Severus as in Severus Snape?" was both Harry's and Ron's reaction.

"Yeah. I know he teaches here."

"uhm…yeah he does. Sorry about the reaction but besides Hermione, who is the only student who Snape never gives bad grades, the rest of us don't have this… great relationship with your uncle".

"Oh…well I know he can be very cold sometimes but if you get to know him he's really great."

"Whatever. Do you mind changing the topic? I just remembered I forgot to write the essay that he gave us as summer homework so I really don't need to think about him right now".

"RONALD WEASLEAY how could you forget about it? I told you 6 times about it. "

"Well excuse me if I don't like to write boring essays about someone's life or work. Besides I'm sure I am not the only one who forgot. Harry you didn't do it right?"

"Sorry Ron but I think this time you're alone in this."

"Great!!!"

"Hey guys the feast is over, let's go I want to unpack some of my stuff tonight".

"Ok. Let's go. So Draco what number is your room?"

"One sec Harry, I have it written somewhere. Here it is. Room 112."

"Well this is new. They could have at least announced me that I have a roommate. I haven't had one in two years. Well come on I will show you where it is. "

"Here we are. We have to share the bathroom with room 111. That's Ron's and Neville's. I don't think you've met him."

"No, only you three"

"Well you'll meet him tomorrow. Knowing those two they're already in dream land. Anyway I will unpack tomorrow, now I am too tired."

"Yeah me too. I'll go to bed now. It was nice meeting you three. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Draco". Harry went to sleep happy that he had another new friend but one thing was definitely dampening his mood. He really hoped that at least for that first night he wouldn't have any nightmares because he didn't need to freak Draco. Of course he knew that would be hard since he rarely slept through the night without at least one nightmare. 

End of chapter 3

Yes it was a bit boring. But I finally managed to get to Hogwarts.

Please review.


	4. chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters…

AN. Sorry it took so long to update but I had exams and I didn't have time to write. Well my exams are over now, I am very happy to say that I am now a first year med student. Anyway from now on I will try to update at least once a week.

Chapter 4

It was around 5 am and the only sounds that you could hear were a few birds outside and a certain black haired boy's mutterings. It was the third nightmare that night and by the sounds of it  was a bad one.

"No…please, not anymore. Please uncle Vernon no more", were the cries that could be heard. A few minutes later the teen woke up, able to hold back his cry (it was something he had learned a long time ago after getting few of the worst beatings from his uncle because he "woke " his family up ). He got out of his bed deciding that he had slept enough and knowing that a restful sleep would not come again tonight. It was too early for breakfast so he decided to have a shower and than finish the essay that McGonagall had assigned.

He was happy about one thing though: apparently Draco was a deep sleeper and he didn't hear him through out the night. Little did he know that Draco had heard every nightmare (being a very light sleeper) and had already decided to talk to Hermione before their first class.

During breakfast the schedules arrived and the four teens (Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron) realized that the first class was piano.

"Damn!

"Language Ron!!!"

"Fine whatever… Mione, you do realize that I am dead starting with my very first class!!! I couldn't finish that essay last night I was too tired. Anyway maybe Draco could help, right?"

"Really Ron do you  think I want to talk to my uncle about your grades? Just because he's my uncle doesn't mean that he will be nicer to me during classes. Really, I don't want to get into trouble starting with my first day here. You're in enough trouble…"

"Guys move it we're late for Snape's class."

"Ok, ok Hermione we're coming.  I wonder why you want to get there ten minutes early all the time… "

"Hermione hold on I want to talk to you a bit…in private"

"Sure Draco. Guys we'll meet you in class"

"So what's up Draco?"

"Well I wanted to talk to you a bit about Harry. Have you noticed anything strange about him?"

"Not really. Besides you don't know him that well, right?"

"Well no, but I share a room with him and I have to wonder if everything is ok since he has 3 nightmares per night."

"WHAT?"

"Keep your voice down, I don't think we need to attract the attention."

"Sorry…so what about the nightmares?"

"Well I am not sure what their about but I did hear him say a couple of times something that sounded a lot like Uncle, or Vernon ."

Hermione visibly paled at this, recognizing Harry's uncle and trying to piece things together. But Harry had never mentioned anything bad about his Uncle and he definitely never mentioned anything about nightmares.

"I think we should talk to him."

"No, Hermione you can't just go at him and ask him about it. I will see what will happen in the next few nights and if things don't change than we (perhaps better you and Ron since you are his best friends) have to talk to him about this ".

"Yeah you're right…God I hope we have nothing to worry about".

"I hope not. I have only known him for one day but he seems nice enough. Anyway let's go we're almost late".

"Yeah, let's go". But Hermione for the first time was not thinking about classes. She was thinking about his best friend and what secrets he had been hiding from her and Ron.

end of chapter

So sorry this chapter ends like this. I wanted to write more but I thought you would like an update. Next one will come in a couple of days but please review.

I have decided that this will be Harry/Draco so if you are against male /male relationships or you don't like reading things like this stop reading the story.

Thanks to **Kees, Charlie-potter1 **and **Smaranda ** for reviewing my last chapter.


	5. chapter 5

Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, blah (you know it by heart)

A/N here's the new chapter as I promised.

"Potter! This is the second time you have failed to answer my questions. You will remain behind."

"Yes sir. " Class had begun recently and it had been going really bad for Harry. Snape seemed even more vindictive this year and it was even worse since Harry had his piano lessons this year with Tom Riddle and his cronies. Tom Riddle was also a very talented violin player therefore he considered Harry his worst enemy. He always reminded Harry about Dudley and his uncle. Although he wasn't into fighting with his classmates Harry was often in a lot of trouble because of Tom…

Piano lesson was finally over (they only had theory so Harry was relieved when he didn't have to actually play it and prove to Snape even more how stupid he was). Snape had kept him behind as promised and made sure to yell at him for ten minutes, promising long detentions if he didn't study better.

Finally dinner came and the four friends reunited and were able to share their impressions as well as talk to Draco about his first day at Hogwarts High.

"I can't believe uncle Sev. He was really unfair to you. Really, besides Hermione I don't think anyone studied anything during the summer."

"Welcome to my nightmare. Sorry I know he's your uncle and all but he does hate me more than anything. I really wish I knew why. I mean piano isn't even my first instrument. I don't like it that much."

"So who's his favorite student? Besides Hermione I mean. Oh and of course me."

"Such modesty Draco. As for the favorite student…that would be Tom Riddle. "

"Ah, yes I had the 'honor' of meeting him this morning while I was going to my drama class. Nice guy… he explained to me about how I should be careful with who I hang out with. I don't think he likes you too much Harry."

"That's not exactly something new. He hates me because all the teachers say I am better than him at violin. Not that I believe that. He's really good and he's received offers from music schools all over that world."

"And you haven't?"

"Hermione that's beyond the point. What I am trying to say is that I really don't think I am better than him"

"Right…" Hermione always wondered why Harry had so little self-esteem. He never believed when people told him he was really good at violin. All the teachers knew this and they said it many times but Harry never believed them.

"Ah! I just remembered. "

"Do you mean to tell me you forgot something Hermione? "

"Very funny Ron. "

Draco really enjoyed their little fight. They acted like they were an old married couple. He caught Harry's eye and realized that he felt the same. Draco spent every moment with the three. He liked them a lot but in reality he really liked Harry. He had felt attracted to him from the first moment they had met.

"Going back, have you heard about the Ariosto competition?" (A/N this competition is invented by me…I think. Sorry, I couldn't think of a better name so I looked through the sorcerer's companion)

"Mcgonagall told us something about it this morning but I was too busy trying to make at least a decent job with my playing. So what about it? "

"Really Harry, you should pay more attention."

"Right…now what about the competition?"

"Ok. The competition will be held here since this is one of the oldest music schools in the world " (A/N yeah right)

"Students from all over the world will come and whoever wins the Ariosto competition gets his own place at the one and only Guildhall School of Music and Drama"

"You're kidding…"

"No Ron I am really serious about this. Therefore I have to go."

"Where to? And when is the contest? And what do I do to compete?"

"There are pamphlets in the great hall you can read all about it. The good thing is that they are giving a place for each instrument and since I will compete both at piano and at guitar I do hope I stand a chance. "

"Don't worry Hermione I am sure you will do great. "

"Thanks Harry." By the way Draco what is your second instrument? I know piano is your first I can't wait to hear you play."

"Oh, it's saxophone. I should have taken it as a first since I enjoy it more than piano but my dad…well he insisted that piano is much better "

"Anyway we should go and study a bit. Mcgonagall's essay seems a bit difficult."

"Imagine if Hermione finds it hard that the rest of us will probably fail it."

"Shut up Ron. I only said it's a BIT difficult"

"So Potter are you competing? Or maybe you won't. Wouldn't want to be a failure and shame the Potter name. Everyone would be soooo disappointed if you didn't win. Pooor Potter, he's not so talented as his mother."

"Shut up Riddle. I am not in the mood for you little taunt. Go annoy someone else. " The minute the words left his mouth he was pinned to the wall and he heard Riddle's whispers.

"Be careful Potter wouldn't want you to have a little accident, would we? I suggest you reconsider about competing or winning the scholarship or you might not like the consequences…neither would your friends"

After this Harry remained alone in the corridor thinking that this year was definitely going to be worse than the ones before. He was determined to compete and get the scholarship although he could tell that this year Tom Riddle would be quite a threat. After calming down a bit he decided that the best thing for now would be to warn his friends about Riddle…and maybe try and stay out of his way for a while.

End of chapter

Please review.


	6. chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…wish I did

Sorry it took so long to update. My computer keeps crashing and I had to get my dad to bring his laptop home (and he did it especially for me to post the story)

Chapter 6

Two weeks had passed since Harry's encounter with Riddle, but none of his friends had found out. He thought that since Riddle hadn't even glanced at him for a week the threat wasn't real. Besides what could Riddle do that his uncle hadn't done yet?

The good thing about these weeks was that Harry was getting closer to Draco. Which was very strange since he rarely got close to anyone and he trusted people very hard. It had taken him months to trust Hermione and Ron and start believing that they were his friends. But Draco was different. For some reason Harry felt that he could be trusted. But not enough to tell him about Vernon. This was a secret that he would never tell to anyone. He liked Draco too much to ruin their friendship over this. Well he would have liked it to be more than a friendship but he didn't think that Draco would actually look at him that way (besides the fact that he didn't even know if Draco was gay.)

There was one thing that made his life miserable: the nightmares. He had at least one every night. This didn't go unnoticed by Draco, who decided it was time to talk to Harry about this.

They had gone to bed only two hours before, when Harry woke up sweating and shaking, trying to catch his breath. The last thing he was expecting was to hear Draco.

"You're ok Har?" Draco asked.

"Yeah…fine." After glancing at his watch and seeing that it was 3:20 Harry continued. "What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Couldn't sleep. Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"A weird dream…nothing important."

__

"Do you always wake up shaking from your dreams?" was what Draco really wanted to ask but decided against it. So he decided to make a better approach.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, that's ok Draco. I told you it's nothing important." _"Coz I really want to tell you about my uncle trying to strangle me to death…right."_

"Maybe I'll tell you about it in the morning. Now I'm kind of tired. Night…"

"Good night Harry." "_Like you're going to tell me anything about your nightmares tomorrow morning. _"

Like Draco had thought, in the morning Harry didn't bring up their chat, avoiding Draco during breakfast. Ron and Hermione realized something was wrong but knew better than to ask. The two had already understood that there was some kind of attraction between Harry and Draco but the two boys were oblivious to it. They knew Harry was gay. It had taken him ages to find the courage and tell them two years ago. But now after seeing how Draco and Harry were reacting to each other they suspected that Draco was gay too.

After realizing that he would get nothing from Harry, Draco decided it was time to talk to his Uncle Severus and ask for his help. It wasn't common knowledge but Severus had had quite a childhood. He had been moved from three foster homes due to abuse, before being adopted by Lucius Malfoy's parents. He had kept his given family name, since they had adopted him when he was ten. Draco knew that even though he had had a happy life at the Malfoys, his uncle never trusted easily and he never let people get close to him. He was a lot like Harry, and Draco knew he was the right person to talk to. And like Harry, Severus had allowed Draco to get close and they shared a special bond. (A/N ooh how cute)

After his piano lesson, Draco remained behind. He knew that Sev had a free period so it was the perfect time to talk to him.

"Hey uncle Sev!"

"Hey Draco. I told you before to call me Professor at school."

"Oh come on, know one is here. Besides most students know you are my uncle, and trust me this doesn't do wonders to my reputation. "

"Brat!"

"Who are you calling a brat?!" asked Draco in mocked annoyance.

"So don't you have classes?"

"Err…yes but I really need to talk to you about something."

"Are you ok?"

"Yes it's not me. You see…." Draco kept fidgeting in his chair not knowing how to begin. It wasn't the easiest conversation to have with his uncle.

"Well?"

"Oh sorry. Err…I have this friend."

"Obviously."

"Stop interrupting Sev. I think he is being abused by his relatives."

"And you are telling me this because…"

"Well you have some experience with this…"

"It's not me you should talk to. If you suspect abuse, talk to the headmaster about it." Snape already had a suspicion about who Draco was talking about but he needed to be sure.

"So who is this person?"

"Do you promise to help?"

"Draco don't blackmail me with this. You're the one who came asking for help. Now who is it?"

"Harry."

"Potter?"

"Yeah…"

"Not exactly a surprise." Snape said in a very low tone but not enough so that Draco wouldn't hear.

"You mean you knew?"

"I've been suspecting this for a while…"

"And you didn't do anything? How could you?" Draco was already shouting at Snape, infuriated by the man's attitude.

"Look Draco, I only had a suspicion. You know how I feel about Potter so I didn't feel like getting involved. Besides nobody else ever said anything so I am probably wrong."

"Obviously you never knew about his nightmares. YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING."

"Draco don't bring my childhood into this, it had no relevance. And I suggest you stop shouting at me. "

"It has DAMMIT!" Draco shouted, ignoring his uncle's suggestion. "If you suspected abuse you should have done something about it!" After finishing Draco stormed out of the classroom, leaving Severus with his own thoughts. It was true, he had suspected abuse ever since the beginning of last year when Ha…Potter had turned up with another bruise on his cheek, a black eye and a big bruise on his arm. The headmaster had asked Harry about it and he had said it was a street fight. Draco was right, he should have known Harry was lying…how many times had Severus used the same excuse to cover up for his so called family. Maybe it was time for Sev to do something. He had let his hate stand in the way for far too long.

End of chapter

Finally done. I already have chapter 7 written (on a copybook). So as soon as I get a few reviews I will type it and post it.

Thanks to oracle**, lampshadesrgreat, Jedi-Bant, ssjmiraitrks, charlie-potter1 **for reviewing the story. I am so happy you like it.


	7. chapter 7

Chapter 7

It had been two days since Draco's 'talk' with his uncle. Snape was on his way to his nephew, after deciding that it was time he apologized and give Draco the support needed.

"Potter!"

"What do you want Riddle?" Harry had forgotten about him.

"Are you competing at the contest?"

"Actually yes Riddle and don't think your threats can stop me" Harry seemed much calmer and braver than he really was. In reality he was trying to find an escape, while fighting the memories of his uncle that threatened to consume him.

"Don't play games with me Potter. I want the scholarship; you'd better not ruin things for me. I warn you don't mess with me " and just to emphasize his point he punched Harry in the face and kicked him hard in the ribs.

Just as Riddle was preparing to throw another punch he heard a voice stopping him.

Snape was trying to locate Draco when he heard voices from the corridor to his left.

"What is going on here? What have you done this time Potter?!"

"I-it wasn't me s-sir. "Harry said, not daring to look at his professor.

"And I'm supposed to believe this…Tom are you alright?"

"Yes sir, don't worry about me. I will go now. " When he passed by Harry he whispered to him:"Remember my warning Potter"

After Riddle left, Snape gave Harry a few moments to compose himself than continued.

"Potter follow me." Snape knew that it was Riddle who had started the fight but he couldn't do anything against the boy. His father was an important businessman who didn't like his son to be threatened.

Arriving in his office, Snape decided it was a good time to start with his plan. He hadn't told the headmaster about Harry knowing that at this point he would deny any abuse. Right now he needed to gain Harry's trust and the only way to do this was to be nice with him.

"So, Potter what happened there?"

"Nothing sir." said Harry still not looking at his teacher.

"That didn't look like nothing to me. Now stop lying boy." Snape raised his voice a bit, noticing Harry's flinching. "_Damn, this is worse that I thought. What did that poor excuse of an uncle do to him?_"

Calming down he continued….

"Are you going to tell me what happened now or during a detention?"

"Um…Riddle and I had a fight."

"That much is obvious. What was it about?"

"Err…about the song we were going to play at the contest. Apparently it was the same one. "

"I see". Snape thought this was the worst excuse he had ever heard in his life. And maybe he wouldn't have doubted Harry so much but he had heard Riddle's whispers to the boy.

"Well next time try and settle matters without fighting. You may be excused and your detention is cancelled."

"Th-thank you sir. "

"Oh and Potter! I suggest you pay a visit to the infirmary. Madame Pompfrey (A/N I am too lazy to check the spelling of her name, sorry) might have some ointment for that bruise on your cheek."

"It's not that bad sir." And than he added in a low voice. "Besides I've had worse from Vernon."

Snape decided to ignore the muttered response. Even though his suspicions had been confirmed it was not the time to talk to Harry about them.

"That was not a request, it was an order. Now go."

"Yes sir."

"Hey guys."

"Hey Harry. How did you get that bruise?"

"Riddle."

"God I hate that guy."

"I know Ron but there's nothing we can do against him. But hey the weirdest thing happened after. I actually had a civilized conversation with Snape?"

"What?" Draco had been listening to the conversation but when his uncle was mentioned he was definitely interested.

"Yeah, I know weird. Your uncle found Riddle and me and when I got to his office he was actually civilized. "

Draco decided not to make any comments about the sudden change. He was still upset with Severus. But at least his uncle was finally doing something.

"So, anything interesting happened during breakfast?"

"No not really. Oh the headmaster announced that the contest will take place in May and that students from the other schools will be coming a week before the contest."

"So have you guys decided what you are going to play?" asked Harry, happy about the change of subject.

"Not sure yet"

"Why Hermione, I thought you would be more prepared."

"Shut up Harry. I have been busy." And after this she gave Ron a small kiss.

"Does this mean what I think it does?"

"Ron asked me out a few days ago. Finally... "

"I'm really happy for you guys."

"Thanks Harry."

"Me too. Congratulations too both of you"

"Thanks Draco. I feel like I just got married or something with all these people congratulating us"

"Well we've been waiting for this to happen for so long…"

"Ron and I are going up to my room to do some studying. I'll see you guys later."

"Right…happy studying Hermione."

"Draco we should go study too (I mean really study). We have that essay at History of music to finish."

"As if Binns would really care if we wrote it or not."

"I know he wouldn't but still I would feel better knowing I did it. We could do it together. I doubt he would notice if the essays were the same"

"Good idea. Let's go…"

"Draco…I've been meaning to ask you something. "

"What?"

"How come you transferred here?"

"Oh…err…'Draco was blushing slightly and he looked uncomfortable.

"Sorry… I shouldn't have asked."

"No, that's ok. You had every right. It's just that it's kind of embarrassing. There were some problems at school because of my sexual orientation. I'm…gay."

"Oh" was all Harry could say. He was definitely feeling happier now. At least he had a chance with Draco. Not that Draco would ever look at him but there was still a bit of hope.

"So, do you have anything against it? I would understand, but I would like you to tell me the truth."

"Have something against it? That would be weird since I'm gay also."

"Great. Well then I was wondering…we're allowed to go in town this Saturday… the headmaster announced us this morning…so…would you like to go out with me?" Draco asked blushing.

"I'd re-really like that" Harry couldn't believe this was happening.

"Great. Well shall we go and work on that essay then?"

"Yeah…sure" Harry was hardly listening to what Draco was saying. He was happier than he had been in a long time.

None of the boys noticed Riddle and the creepy smile that he had on his face after hearing their entire conversation.

End of chapter

I know I only posted the last chapter a few hours ago. Well I got two reviews and since I had already written chapter 7 I figured you'd like to read it.

Thanks to "**um…hello…()"** for the review. Lovely pen name by the way.

****

lampshadesrgreat: no the story is not a repost. I think there are two or three stories similar to mine. One where Harry is really good at drawing blah, blah. I also found another one that is like mine. Harry is great at the violin and Snape is a piano teacher (but I read it after I had started writing mine or I would have changed at least the instruments). Anyway I hope this answers your question. Oh and the plot is totally different.


	8. chapter 8

Disclaimer: don't own…no money…

Chapter 8

"Anyway, that's a bit about my family…" Draco was telling Harry on their date. The week had passed quickly both boys anxious to get out of school and spend a few hours alone.

"They seem very nice. "

"Yeah they are. But as I said it's weird that everyone thinks they are really cold when in reality they very nice and we have a great relationship. So what about your family?" Draco asked, hoping to get some answers to his questions.

"Oh…err…well I live with my aunt, uncle and cousin. You know my parents died when I was one. So…that's about it," Harry said starting to feel very nervous. He hated being asked about his family, about how they were treating him. And he certainly didn't want to tell Draco about this. What would the other boy think about him? He would probably despise him, hate him, and think of him as weak. Harry would do anything for this not to happen.

"Um… Harry, I just talked to you about my family for half an hour and all you can tell me is that you live with your aunt, cousin and uncle? How are they? Do you get along with them?"

"Oh… well…they are ok I guess. I don't get along very well with my cousin but otherwise things are ok with them." Harry really hated this conversation. He really didn't like to lie to Draco but what was he supposed to tell him?!

"So…does your uncle know about you being gay?" Draco asked

"Are you kidding? He'd probably kill me if he ever found out. Anyway how about we change the subject? I think we've talked enough about our families…"

"I think I've talked enough but since you don't want to tell me anything…ok. So where do you want to go and have lunch?"

"There's this great restaurant strait ahead. I went with Hermione and Ron a couple of times last year and they had great food. We could go there."

"Ok, sure, lead the way…"

The trip to town was fantastic. Harry had been a little afraid that he would meet Riddle there but it didn't happen and he was grateful for that. After dinner both boys went straight to bed since the day had been truly exhausting.

It was around 3 am but Harry still couldn't fall asleep. He kept thinking about Draco's stories about his family. His family (Draco's) was so different that Harry's. They were always there for Draco, they accepted him, and he always felt loved. Though he didn't want to admit it he was jealous on his boyfriend. Harry smiled at the thought that Draco was his boyfriend. He remembered how Draco had kissed him goodnight and the happiness that he felt knowing that someone really cared for him.

Draco woke up to get a glass of water and was startled when he saw Harry awake.

"Hey Harry. Why are you awake?"

"Oh, I couldn't sleep. Hope I didn't wake you up."

"No I was just thirsty. Do you want to talk a bit?"

"Sure…what about?"

"What were you thinking about?" Draco noticed that Harry's eyes were bright, like he had tears in them but he didn't ask about that.

"Nothing important" '_just about my lovely family and how much love they give me'_ he realised that he was almost crying so he decided that it was time to end the conversation. "I'll try and get some sleep, ok Draco?"

"Are you sure you're ok? Um…you look like you're about to cry or something"

"That's ridiculous. I'm fine. We'll talk in the morning "

"Harry please…tell me what's wrong. Did you have another nightmare?" Draco had talked with Severus a couple of days before and the older man said that Harry would probably open up best to Draco because he trusted him most.

"I didn't have another nightmare. I'm fine I told you"

"Harry please tell me…you've been having nightmares every night. Just tell me what they're about. Let me help you" '_please'_

"I don't know what you're talking about Draco. I'm"

"FINE…yes you already said that. But I don't believe you." Draco said crushed when he saw how Harry flinched the moment he had raised his voice. "Harry you can't ignore the nightmares. Tell me what you're problem is and we can find a solution."

"There is no solution. Please Draco just drop it. I want to sleep now" Harry was becoming more and more agitated. Draco knew about his nightmares. What was he supposed to tell him. He wanted so badly to talk to him, to ask for his help but his embarrassment and pride wouldn't allow him.

"Harry…do your nightmares have anything to do with your uncle?" Draco knew he was pushing his love but it had to be done. He needed to brake his barriers down.

"My uncle? What are you talking about? No…Draco this has gone too far. I don't want to talk about my nightmares with you."

"So you are having nightmares…"Draco continued, seeing that Harry's defenses were beginning to crumble

"YES, FINE! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO HEAR? FINE I HAVE NIGHTMARES EVEY NIGHT. SO WHAT IF I DO? I CAN HANDLE THEM! I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I CAN HANDLE THEM…I can handle them."By now Harry was had tears running down his cheeks, and he was slowly rocking back and forth.

Draco immediately got of his bed and went to Harry enveloping him in a hug. The boy tensed up in the beginning but he relaxed while Draco was rubbing soothing circles on his back. Draco kept mumbling nonsense to him, trying to calm him down, until his lover finally fell in a nightmare free sleep.

End of chapter

Wow, I can't believe I finally finished the chapter (not that it's long but I finally got the time to write it). I hope the chapter wasn't too bad, I know I moved a bit fast but well….

Thanks to **lampshadesrgreat (**sorry if I seemed upset about your comment, I really wasn't**), andreea , Kaydera, um…hello, SailorBaby16 (**um…you'll just have to keep reading the story in order to get an answer to your questions**), …hehe, charlie-potter1, Smaranda (**getting reviews on the phone is really interesting**).**

I can't believe you all really like this story. Wow…


	9. chapter 9

Disclaimer: don't own anything…

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't updated for a while, but I've been out of town.

Chapter 9

When Harry awoke next morning, the first thing he noticed was that he was in somebody's embrace. After thinking how good it felt he realised that the one holding him was Draco. Immediately he remembered the event that took place during the night.

"How could I be so stupid?" he thought. "_How could I tell him about my nightmares? I practically told him everything…and how did he know about uncle Vernon? He's probably going to hate me now. I'm a total loser…_ "

While Harry was battling with his own conscience, Draco had also woken up. He was also thinking about the events that had taken place during the night. It was the first time he had gotten a response from Harry. After seeing his reaction just because they tried (well at least he had) to talk about the nightmares, Draco didn't know what to expect if he was to bring Harry's uncle in the discussion. He just hoped that after that night, Harry wouldn't push him away.

"Hey…"

"Morning" Harry answered, not looking at Draco. He wasn't ready to face rejection. And he also felt embarrassed about the way he had reacted the night before. He couldn't believe that after just one day their relationship was over.

"Draco…about last night…I'm"

"Don't you dare apologize! Just…please, talk to somebody about the nightmares…and…the reason behind them"

"I don't know what you are talking about. " Harry said, and then left to have a shower, without giving Draco a chance to respond.

After ignoring each other while getting dressed, Draco couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Harry…just because you are ignoring this it doesn't mean it will go away. I will do everything I can to help you but please, allow me to. Talk to me about this, talk to somebody just don't' ignore it anymore. "

After Draco finished, all Harry could do was give him a nod. He was amazed that Draco still wanted him, and that he was there for him. For the first time, Harry thought that maybe he should tell Draco about some of the things that were happening. And just maybe, Draco would still be there for him. After Harry told Draco that he would think about it (It's better than nothing, Draco thought), the two went to breakfast, and to meet Hermione and Ron who they hadn't seen all weekend.

"Morning guys"

"Morning Hermione, Ron" both Draco and Harry answered.

"So where were you two yesterday?" Ron asked

"In town. I thought you and Hermione went too," Harry answered

"We did, but after a quick lunch, we came back here. Can you imagine, Hermione made me finish all my homework? I actually finished the essay assigned by Binns and that's due on Tuesday. I mean that's three days away…" Ron said in mocked annoyance.

"Ron, stop it. We were both behind with our studies. And today I have an important piano practice with professor Snape. I have decided to play 'The Moonlight Sonata ' at the contest and I want him to be my supervisor. Any of you decide on what you are going to play?"

"Not really. I have some ideas but I will know for sure by next week." Draco stated.

"So what about you two? What did you two do yesterday?" Ron asked

"We went into town…I showed Draco around a bit, since it was the first time that we went there since school has started." Harry wasn't sure if he should tell about their date. Even though Draco hadn't told him anything Harry didn't know if he wanted to make their relationship known.

Hermione sensed that Harry was keeping something from them and curiosity won.

"Anything else?" she asked

Draco realised that Harry was waiting for him to say anything. He didn't know if Hermione and Ron would be ok with this but he didn't want to keep his relationship with Harry a secret from their best friends. Since he had come to this school his only real friends besides Harry, had been Ron and Hermione.

"I took Harry on a date…um…I hope you guys have nothing against this" he said

Hermione and Ron both smiled seeing that the two were finally together.

"So are you two finally together?" Ron asked

"What do you mean finally?" Harry and Draco asked in the same time

"Guys, it was sooo obvious. Even Ron noticed that you two liked each other."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Ron said annoyed

"Sorry Ron "but your sense of observation is…"

"Don't you dare finish that Hermione!" Ron said in mocked annoyance.

The slight tension that existed between Draco and Harry finally disappeared. After breakfast they all headed towards their piano lesson. Harry left the other three to go alone, as he had forgotten his homework in his room.

But when he got to his room he found the room upside-down (A/N sorry couldn't find another phrase to use) and he also found a letter standing on his desk addressed to him. After getting over the initial shock he finally opened the letter. It wasn't such a big surprise when he realised it was a letter from Tom Riddle (A/N I am sure you weren't expecting the letter to be from Tom).

The letter was very short and it contained the usual threat against Harry. The only difference was that Tom knew about Harry and Draco and that this time he had also threatened Draco if Harry didn't loose the contest. Harry went out of the room leaving it the way it was. For some reason he didn't want to tell anyone about the letter and he decided that he would let Draco find the room like this but he wouldn't tell him about the letter. He was sure that Tom couldn't do anything else but trash the room. As for the beating that he was promising in the letter…well he was used to it. And Tom would most likely go after him and not Draco. Harry decided that he wouldn't go to the piano lesson since he was already half an hour late. The last thing that he needed was another detention with Professor Snape. Though lately his professor had been nice to him (he couldn't figure out the reason behind this sudden change) he didn't want to test this new relationship.

He would just wait for Draco on the hall and then tell him about the room. He was sure that the other boy would go to the headmaster and he would probably want an investigation.

"Mr. Malfoy, stay behind" Snape said in his threatening tone.

"Yes sir." Draco wanted nothing more that to be out of the class. He didn't know what had happened to Harry since he didn't show up for class.

After everyone in the class left, Draco went at the front desk, to talk to his uncle.

"Draco, where is Mr. Potter?" he asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Don't know uncle Sev. After breakfast, he went to our room to get his homework. He was supposed to meet us here."

"Have you talked to him about his nightmares yet?" Snape asked, knowing that it had been a few days since his last talk to Draco about Harry's problems.

"Last night. And trust me uncle Sev it wasn't a nice talk. Something has to be done about this. It took me half an hour just to make him admit that he has nightmares. And once I did, well let's just say that it was the first time I have seen Harry yell or get upset at something. "

"Did he tell you anything about his uncle?"

"No, and he tried to deny that his nightmares had anything to do with his uncle. He promised me that he would talk to somebody about this, but I have my doubts."

"So are you two going out?"

"Uncle Sev, what's this got to do with this? And how did you know?" Draco asked surprised.

"I saw you this morning at breakfast. You were holding his hand before getting in the great hall. Draco don't rush into this relationship! And I am saying this because of two reasons. One would be the fact that you have a tendency to rush things and last time you did you had to change schools, and second reason is that Harry is an abused child, and the last thing that he needs is you to push him in a relationship that he is not ready for."

"I know uncle Sev. As for me telling people and rushing, don't worry. The only ones that know about this are Hermione, Ron and you. I learned my lesson at the other school. I should go, I want to find Harry. Besides I am almost late for my History of music class."

"Ok. Oh and Draco, please decide on what you want to play at the contest. Are you competing at both instruments?"

"Yeah, I think so. Besides I know Hermione has the biggest chances to win the piano contest."

"Yes I think so too. Her choice is a very good one. She has many chances to win. Now go, I don't want you to be late for your class. I know how you enjoy sleeping in that class." Snape said with a smile.

"Uncle Sev, did you just make a joke? What about your reputation?" Draco asked, laughing.

"Get out you little brat!"

"Bye, uncle Sev…"

After leaving the piano class, Draco found Harry waiting for him in the hall.

"Draco, come on, I have to show you something. "

"Is everything ok? Why didn't you come to class?" Draco asked confused.

"I'm fine. And nothing is extremely wrong. Just that someone broke in our room…" Harry said like it was nothing.

"WHAT?" Draco yelled.

"Will you calm down? Nothing is missing, I already checked. Let's go."

End of chapter

Hope this wasn't too bad.

Thanks to **um…hello , Nejidragon **(I know that they are not technically lovers, but Draco can still call Harry his love. They've only been together for two days so…), **charlie-potter1 (**thank you for reviewing all chapters so far).

Also last chapter I forgot to say thank you to **Kaydera **and **elerisea** for putting me on their fav lists.

Please review.


	10. chapter 10

Disclaimer: wish I owned but I don't…

A/N sorry it's been so long since I have updated. I had half of the chapter written and then I didn't get the chance to finish writing the rest. Anyway I hope you like it.

Chapter 10

When Harry and Draco arrived to their rooms, the first thing that they did was to see if anything was missing. As Harry already knew, everything was in order, except for the obvious trashed room.

"Ok, I checked everything…we should go to the headmaster and tell him what has happened " Draco suggested.

"Sure, though I doubt he can find out who did this" Harry answered, trying to calm Draco down, when he started pacing.

"Do you suspect anyone?" Draco asked

"Um...not really"

"I think it was Riddle and his gang, lately they've been doing a lot of nasty comments" Draco answered

"What kind of comments? Did he say anything to you?" Harry asked concerned about his boyfriend. He had begun to care a lot about him in the last few weeks.

Though they didn't show their affection in public (because they knew people would not react well to their relationship) when they were alone or just with Hermione and Ron they would always kiss or stay embraced.

"Harry let's see the headmaster, ok?"

"Wait, you didn't answer my question! Did Riddle say something to you?"

"Oh…no, nothing important. He just said that it wasn't right for a Malfoy to sit with a Weasley…and of course with you. How come he doesn't like you at all?"

"Well…you know how teachers always say I have a lot of talent and all that. Riddle's first instrument just like mine is the violin. And ever since we started going to the same music school, he comes second to all the inter school contests and I end up first. Though I don't think it's fair. I mean Riddle is very good also, and I really think he's better than I am "Harry said, showing Draco once again, his very low self-esteem

"Harry, I truly doubt you could win, if you weren't any good…especially with my uncle part of the jury"

After this, Draco gave Harry another kiss and then they headed to the headmaster's office.

Few weeks after the incident (which of course was not solved), Halloween came. Riddle hadn't done anything more to Harry except to keep threatening him. He had to wait until Christmas when the students had to announce if they were competing and if they were with what song and which teacher as a supervisor.

Due to the fact that Halloween was on a Friday the Headmaster decided to give the students the day off. Of course they were also allowed to go into town during the weekend.

"Harry, what's wrong?" Draco asked after Harry had been silent for over 20 minutes, staring at nothing.

"What? Oh…nothing…I just don't like Halloween that much…" Harry answered with a pained look on his face.

"How come?" Draco asked, knowing that it was probably something serious.

"Um…my parents died in a car crash, on Halloween night…so I tend to…to hate this holiday"

"God! I'm sorry, I should've known" Draco said, hitting himself for being so stupid to forget something so important.

"Draco, it's ok, I never told you. Listen…I'm going for a walk…I need to be alone for a while. I'll see you, Hermione and Ron later, ok?"

"Yeah, sure" Draco answered still upset about his mistake.

After two hours, Draco became restless. Harry hadn't shown up and Draco was starting to have second thoughts about leaving the other boy alone. After searching for Harry for half an hour, he finally found him near the lake that surrounded the school.

Though he knew that Harry was upset, he never expected to see him shaking and crying. Making up his mind, Draco pulled Harry in an embrace. At first the boy tensed, not knowing whom it was, but then he relaxed continuing to cry.

He had realized a few nights ago, after being woken up by his boyfriend from another nightmare, and after being held by him until he calmed down, that Draco didn't think of him as weak and that maybe he could tell him his secret after all.

"Harry, are you ok?" Draco asked, after Harry had calmed down a bit.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I always get sad on Halloween...it's a good moment to see what I've missed…you know…a family and all that"

"But you have your aunt and uncle…and cousin" Draco said

Harry wasn't sure if he should say anything or not. But Draco had been so good to him, they had become very close in the last month, and Harry trusted him more than anyone. _"And if I want this relationship to work I need to tell him everything. Besides if he leaves now, I won't hurt that much" _Harry thought making up his mind.

"Well, thing is…um…I might have exaggerated a bit when it came to my family"

__

"No kidding" Draco thought. He was happy that after so long, Harry was finally reaching out to him.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, concern evident in his eyes.

"Um…I don't have such a good relationship with my family. They never really wanted me in their little, happy family. I was sort of dumped on their doorstep when I was one. Social services figured out that it was in my best interest to live with them, since they were my only living relatives. They just didn't take in consideration that the Dursleys really didn't want me. "

"Harry…." Draco started but Harry interrupted him immediately.

"Draco, stop please. Let me finish. If I don't tell you know, I never will. This is really hard on me and I just want to finish." _And see if you leave me after…_

After a few moments of silence, Harry continued, knowing that after this there was no turning back.

"I spent the first eleven years of my life in a cupboard under the stairs"

"What?!" Draco asked enraged, hoping that he had heard wrong.

"A cupboard under the stairs…the only times I was allowed to get out were when I had chores to do or when I went to school. You know…it's biggest disadvantage besides being really small was the fact that now I am claustrophobic. And my uncle really enjoys taking advantage of that… " By now Harry again had tears streaming down his cheeks. Whether they were of anger, shame or both, he didn't know. He felt slightly comforted when Draco hugged him again, trying to calm him down.

Draco felt his heart breaking. He knew that Harry wasn't finished and he didn't know whether he wanted to know more or not. But he cared too much for him to let this go, so he just tried to comfort him, make it easier for him, while he continued to talk.

"At first they weren't violent. Dudley would sometimes kick me or punch me, but that was it. Of course the starvation was there ever since I can remember. It still takes me a week to get used to eating normally when I come back here after the three months holiday. Things got worse when I was around four. Uncle Vernon was fired and since he couldn't hit his precious son or wife, he decided that I was good enough to be a punching back. In the beginning he only slapped me a couple of times but… then he… he started using his belt. " Harry paused, remembering the first time his uncle had used it. After the first blow he had begged for his uncle to stop, but he never did…he only seemed to get more excited and hit harder. After that Harry had never begged again.

Draco watched concerned as Harry started to tremble.

"Harry…"

"Harry…love"

"Love…I think we should stop for tonight…" but he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

"No! I need to tell you this now," Harry yelled.

"Ok" Draco answered, knowing that this was probably his only chance to know everything and to help Harry heal.

"When I started Hogwarts it got better. Though they didn't like the fact that I was going to a music school, they had no choice…my parents had already enrolled me and it was also specified in their will (A/N I have no idea if this is possible, but I'll leave it like this for the sake of the story). It got really good for me because I only had to see them during the summer. Of course they would never allow me to come to their house for Christmas or Easter…not that I wanted to anyway. Summers were really hard…I had no friends to talk to, and my uncle enjoyed tormenting me more than ever. Though this summer was probably the hardest. I told you that when I was four my uncle lost his job. After this he decided to open his own firm. This summer things didn't go very well at his office. He started drinking and…he …um…. he got more violent than ever. Let's just say that the black eye was not my only injury when I arrived to Hogwarts in September."

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry…" Draco said hugging the other boy, while thinking about everything that Harry had told him. He didn't think he had ever heard of someone to treat his own family so cruel.

"Draco…it isn't your fault. Now I need to know something" Harry answered while getting enough courage to ask Draco what was really bothering him after this.

"Do you…still want to go out with me after this?"

"What?! How can you me ask such a thing?" Draco answered not believing what Harry had just asked.

"Oh…well, then i…I will go then. Sorry about everything" Harry answered, misunderstanding Draco's answer, thinking he had once again been rejected. He got up, tears running down his cheeks. But he didn't get very far. Draco was near him immediately, enveloping in a hug.

"How could you think I would leave you my love? I would never do that. " Draco answered trying to comfort Harry who was once again crying and shaking.

"I'm so-sorry Draco. I thought you would never want to see me again after everything I've told you. I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault. It's you're uncle who should be blamed. He should be in jail after everything he's done to you. Harry…child abuse is a very serious crime and it should be punished. "

"I know…but it's not that bad Draco…I mean the Dursley's allowed me to stay in their house…they could have just sent me to an orphanage"Harry answered, in a very weak attempt to defend his only 'family'

"Maybe it would have been better for you. Harry it's late and it's getting cold. You look like you're freezing. We should go inside. We can talk some more in our room. "

"Ok."

When they got to their room, Harry fell almost instantly asleep. The day's events had certainly taken their toll on him.

After seeing that Harry was asleep, Draco decided this was a very good moment to talk to his uncle. He also wanted to know if he could do anything to the Dursleys so that Harry wouldn't have to return to them. He knew that Harry hadn't told him everything…but this was a start and he felt happy that the other boy had trusted him so much.

End of chapter

A/N can't believe I actually finished the chapter. I hope you liked it. I know both Harry and Drake are a bit out of character but…it is fanfiction.

Thanks to **charlie-potter1, black-ravenrose** and **jedi-bant** for reviewing my story.

I start Uni in two weeks so from now on I will probably update once every week during the weekend.

Please review.


	11. chapter 11

Disclaimer: not mine

Chapter 11

"Hey uncle Sev"

"Hey Draco, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending your weekend with Harry, or at least that's what you've been telling me for two weeks."

"Yeah…I was. And I still am, but I need to talk to you about something "

"It seems important. What's up?"

"Um…Harry told about the…the abuse…"

"Are you ok?" Snape asked concerned.

"What do you mean, am _I _alright? I think it's him you should be worried about. You have no idea what he told me. I can't understand how no one saw the abuse before!" Draco said, starting to get agitated.

"Draco, calm down, and start from the beginning please. But first, where's Harry now?"

"He's sleeping. After we had_ the talk_, he fell asleep. Maybe I should go back. I don't want him to be alone when he wakes up" Draco said, heading for the door.

"Draco wait! First tell me what you and Harry talked about. Don't worry, Harry was probably exhausted, it will take a while before he wakes up. Trust me, _I know_. " Snape told Draco, trying to calm him down.

After Draco finished his story, Severus finally understood how serious things really were.

"And he actually thought I would leave him. He kept saying that he was sorry, and that it was his fault. Sev…th-there has to be something we can do. He can't go back there! His relatives have to be punished! And he needs help…help that I am not sure I can actually give."

"The fact that Harry admitted the abuse is a very important step. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do against it, unless he talks about it with an adult. The next step should be to press charges against his relatives: child abuse, neglect etc. " Severus said, already thinking about everything that had to be done.

"I think you…you should convince him to come talk to me. As you can probably imagine, I actually know what he's talking about. I can help him, both with dealing with this but also help him during the trial. I have a good friend that's a lawyer…I will give him a call and see what can be done. His father was also a lawyer. He was the one that helped your grandfather (A/N Lucius's father) to get custody of me. As far as I know he's also a very good lawyer. "

"Um…uncle Sev? Could i…could I tell Harry about your past? It might help me convince him to talk to you…" Draco asked, unsure if he had done right, asking his uncle.

"I suppose…it is a good idea. Just don't go in to many details. I will tell him when I find it necessary. "

"Thank you so much for doing this uncle Sev. You don't know how much this means to me."

"This should have been done long time ago…and I can do at least a bit to ease my guilty conscience…besides lately, Harry hasn't been so obnoxious"

"He never was Sev…are you ever going to tell me why you didn't like him at all, before I got here?" Draco asked more than curious.

"Maybe…one day…There's something else I want to talk to you about, and then you should go see if Harry is ok."

"What about?"

"About the contest, have you decided on what you are going to play? You're running out of time and I would like you to get that scholarship."

"Well…I have some ideas but I haven't decided yet. " Draco said

"Ok. You have until next week to tell me what you are going to play both at the piano and the saxophone. I know you want to concentrate more on the saxophone but I want you to try the piano too"

"As if I have a chance with Hermione playing."

"Hermione is fantastic…everyone knows it…but there's always a chance. I want you to compete in both. Now go see Harry."

"Bye uncle Sev. "

"Bye…and don't forget to make a decision."

"Harry…Harry wake up."

"Hey Draco. What time is it? For how long have I been sleeping?" Harry asked, trying to remember how he had ended sleeping.

"It's almost dinner…that's why I woke you up. After the talk that we had you fell asleep" Draco answered guessing Harry's unsaid question.

"What ta…oh…that talk. About that…"

"Harry…we'll talk later about this. Now let's go have dinner, see Hermione and Ron and relax a bit. " Draco said then gave Harry another kiss.

"Thanks. Ok let's go have dinner. I haven't talked to Hermione and Ron in ages. I've been working hard on my violin piece for the contest and I haven't had time to talk to them."

"So what are you playing?" Draco asked, doubting he would get an answer.

"It's a surprise. You'll see when I play at the contest."

"Thought so. Come on let's go."

"Hey Ron, Hermione."

"Hey guys, it's been a while. You weren't in town today. We were hoping to see you, maybe go to lunch together."

"We didn't go in town at all. Maybe tomorrow. So what's new?" Harry asked.

"Nothing much…studying, studying and what a surprise…studying. "

"Speak for yourself Hermione. I haven't even decided what to play at the contest. Professor Trelawny (A/N hope the spelling is right) wants me to decide till next week. "

"I know… so does my uncle."

"You saw your uncle?" Harry asked knowing that it probably happened while he was asleep.

"Yeah…we needed to talk about some things. I'll tell you about it later. Why is Riddle glaring at us like this?" Draco asked, confused.

"He's probably upset that Harry's competing. Bet he would have liked you to drop out."

"I wonder what gave you that idea Ron. He's been threat…um…asking me whether I'm competing for the last month every day. "

Nobody noticed that Harry had avoided saying something, except Draco, who knew that this had to be talked about.

"Harry can you help me decide what I should play? My uncle said next week I have to tell me but knowing him he'll probably want to know sooner."

"Ok. Let's go to the music library and see what you can find. Do you want to go now?" Harry asked, eager to help his boyfriend.

"Sure. I'll see you guys later."

"Ok. Bye, Harry, Draco."

"Bye guys."

Wants they were alone on the corridor, Draco decided it was a good opportunity to ask Harry about his concerns.

"What did you mean when you said that Riddle was threatening you?" Draco asked in a serious tone.

"What?"

End of chapter

Hope you enjoyed the new chapter…

I also need you to answer a question: the lawyer that Severus wants to hire should be: **Sirius **or **Remus**. I will leave it to you to vote. I will announce it in two or three chapters. Thanks.

Nejidragon, Queen of the Slash (I know what you mean about the dialogue…I'm trying to get better…**), Chibi Bailey, athenakitty (**the dursleys will not die…but they will pay for what they did.**), charlie-potter1 , cherrity (**I am so happy that you like the story**), black-ravenrose. **Thank you all for reviewing.


	12. chapter 12

Disclaimer: not mine…

****

AN I am so, so sorry for waiting a month to update…I can't believe it's been so long…I've been busy with university and other stuff but I do hope that I will be able to update weekly from now on…anyway hope you enjoy the new chapter…

Previously:

Once they were alone on the corridor, Draco decided it was a good opportunity to ask Harry about his concerns.

"What did you mean when you said that Riddle was threatening you?" Draco asked in a serious tone.

"What?"

****

Chapter 12

"I asked, what did you mean Riddle has been threatening you? " Draco asked, getting upset.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Now come on let's go to the library." Harry answered, getting really agitated. He had not intended to tell Draco about Riddle. Of course Draco wasn't supposed to know about Harry's home life either but he did. Harry felt like he couldn't really keep all the bad things away when he was around his boyfriend. Though it was a good thing it was also frustrating. Harry had kept his home life a secret all his life and just a month after he had met Draco, he told him the truth. And truth be told, he didn't regret it. It had been a great feeling knowing that somebody actually did care about what he was going through and he had felt great when Draco had promised him that he would never leave him and that he would help him get away from the Dursleys. But even so what was he supposed to answer? Yes Riddle had indeed threatened him but it wasn't that serious. Besides Draco was also in danger…Harry thought, remembering the letter that Riddle had left him after turning his room upside down.

"Harry, stop lying to me. I thought we weren't going to keep any secrets from each other. "

"Look, it's no big deal. I can handle Riddle. All he does is insult me. "

"So the bruise that you had two weeks ago came from walking through a door?" Draco asked, not knowing how to make Harry tell him the truth.

"Um…well…"Harry tried answering, while examining his shoes with great interest.

"Harry…please!"

"Look, it's not that important. I promise. Let's go to the library."

"Fine! But I think you should see the headmaster and tell him what's going on."

"If things get worse, I promise I will go. But let's just leave it for now. I promise I will tell you." Harry said, hoping he had finally convinced his boyfriend that things were ok.

"Right…ok let's go then But Harry…I mean it…if Riddle touches you again we will be seeing the headmaster." Draco said, hoping to get his message clear.

"Ok. So do you have any idea about what you want to play?" Harry asked after the two boys had finally reached the music library.

"Not really. Uncle Sev wants me to play both the piano and the saxophone. To tell you the truth I have no idea what I should play."

"Let's start with your favorite composer. Both at the piano and the saxophone."

"Well…at the piano I think…it's Beethoven. As for the saxophone I don't really have a favorite. I usually play my own songs. But if you have any ideas I'd be extremely happy to hear them. Of course Hermione is playing Moonlight Sonata so I doubt I can actually beat that." Draco said, trying to figure out what he should play.

"Well let's see what we can find and then you can choose."

"Thanks for helping me with this…I really appreciate it."

After three hours of listening to various composers, the two boys hadn't decided yet what Draco should play at the saxophone. Since he really enjoyed Beethoven's work he had chosen to play something written by this composer.

"Harry…let's go…we'll come back tomorrow. " Draco asked, after he had started to get bored and frustrated. He hadn't been able to choose anything. He didn't understand why he had to play someone else's work instead of his own plays. His uncle had told him that he was very good and he knew that he could win the contest. But apparently the rules interdicted original songs. That's why it had been a very long afternoon. And there was another reason why he wanted to go back to his and Harry's room. As much as he dreaded it, he really needed to tell Harry about what he had talked with his uncle. Harry had to make a decision soon. Christmas was close and Draco hoped that something could be done before that, so Harry wouldn't have to spend the holidays with his so-called family. He wanted Harry to come and spend the holidays with his family and he knew that his parents would be happy to meet his boyfriend. (**A/N** students can't spend Christmas at Hogwarts.)

"Ok Draco let's go. To tell you the truth I think I've had enough classical music for tonight."

When they arrived in their room Draco was more nervous than he had been in a while. He knew that Harry had only told him about the abuse only recently and he hated the fact that he had to talk about this again…so soon. But Severus was already working on going to trial. He had told Draco about his lawyer friend and there was no doubt that if he did accept the case he would need Harry's testimony soon.

"Harry…I talked with uncle Sev after you fell asleep." Draco said not knowing how to start the conversation.

End of chapter

Sorry I ended it here. It's for your own good actually. I have already started writing the next chapter but I wanted to post something. Please review, please, please, please even though I know the chapter wasn't very good and it was shorter than usual.

Thanks to: **TanAlike, charl1e, lampshadesrgreat, black-ravenrose, Lila-Star, ShaeLynn, blue-cherry15, Hpfreakout, lol, feshnie.**

Also I have resached a decision. Actually you have. It's been decided that Remus will be the lawyer.


	13. chapter 13

Disclaimer: after 12 chapters I imagine everyone knows I don't own harry potter or any of the characters I use in the story…I'm just playing a bit with them.

Previously:

"Harry…I talked with uncle Sev after you fell asleep." Draco said not knowing how to start the conversation.

Chapter 13

"I know…did you guys talk about anything interesting?" Harry asked, curious about why Draco was telling him this. Harry had come to realize that Draco was very close to his uncle. They saw each other every couple of days. Of course Harry didn't go with Draco at those meetings. He knew that the last thing Snape wanted was to have him around…even though lately he had been acting very nice to Harry.

"Well…yes…sort of. We…um…talked mostly about…um…you" Draco said, feeling guilty for breaking Harry's trust. The one thing that his boyfriend had asked him was to tell nobody about his home life. Draco knew that even though he had betrayed his trust, it was for Harry's own good. Though, that didn't make it easier.

"What do you mean…you talked about me? I doubt Snape likes me that much" Harry answered, dreading the answer.

"I…I told my uncle about the abuse."

"WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU TOLD HIM ABOUT THE ABUSE? You swore to me you wouldn't tell" Harry asked, furious.

"Harry…just calm down and listen to me a bit. Please…"

"No thank you. I think I've listened enough. Just get out. I need some time alone."

"Harry…"

"Get. Out. Now."

A week had passed since their fight and things weren't looking any better. Harry was totally ignoring Draco, not telling him a word, just glaring at him whenever getting the opportunity. Draco knew that Harry was beyond furious with him. That much was obvious since for the first time in weeks, his boyfriend hadn't accepted his help after nightmares…nightmares, that for some reasons had become more frequent than ever.

"Mr. Potter, stay behind" Snape said. It was time for them to talk. Draco had told him what had happened after Halloween night. Snape had waited enough for the two to work things out and besides the fact that he could see both were miserable, he had already talked with Remus Lupin the lawyer who was going to take Harry's case. Of course Remus had accepted the case, but he wanted to talk to Harry. The meeting was to take place in one week and Harry still didn't know about it since Draco hadn't told him.

"Was there something you wanted, _sir_?" Harry asked, clearly showing his annoyance. He knew that Snape had no fault in what had happened but he was upset anyway.

"Do not take this tone of voice with me Harry. Now let's go to my office. There are some things that need to be discussed. I have waited long enough."

"If this is about what Draco has told you about me then I don't want to talk about it. Was there anything else?" Harry asked already heading for the door.

"Harry, this has gone far enough. You will listen to me. Unless…of course, it is your choice…you would like to talk to the headmaster about this. " Severus knew what Harry's choice was going to be. Though Harry had no idea that the headmaster had already been informed about the abuse and that he was going to be a witness in his trial.

"NO! I mean…no…I would prefer talking to you. "Harry answered in a defeated voice.

"Then let's go to my office." Snape answered, preparing himself for a very long night.

(A/N I was so tempted to leave the chapter here…but it was too short…even for my standards)

"Sit down. Would you like some tea?" Snape asked, hoping to get Harry a bit more relaxed.

"Um…yes. Thank you sir."

"I think you can call me Severus in private especially since you are Draco's boyfriend. Now…I know I am the last person you want to talk to about this"

"Well…"

"Don't interrupt me Harry. Just listen until the end then you can decide what do to."

"Yes si…I mean Severus" Harry answered hoping he could get out of there sooner.

"Draco told me about what you talked about on Halloween. I also know that you two had a fight and that you are currently not talking to each other. And I understand why this has happened. But…Harry…don't you see why Draco did what he did?"

"As a matter of fact I don't sir. He made a promise and then he broke it. That's all there is to it. And I don't plan to forgive him anytime soon so stop defending him. I trusted him and he broke my trust." Harry answered, not understanding why he was telling Snape of all people about this.

"Harry…let me tell you a little story and maybe then you will understand that Draco was only trying to help you." Snape said, knowing that he was going to reveal Harry his past. A past that only few people knew about. But he had to do it if he wanted to gain his trust…. Snape knew it was the only way.

"Ok…I guess."

"First….what I am going to tell you, doesn't leave this room. You are not to tell Granger or Weasley about this, since it's none of their concern. And yes, Draco knows about what I am going to tell you."

"Yes sir."

"It's Severus. Now…the story begins when I was born and my parents left me in an orphanage. I found out years later that they were extremely poor and they couldn't afford a child. Therefore they placed me there, hoping I would receive better treatment and get adopted by a better family. And I was adopted…three times. The third time I was 10 and it was Draco's grandparents who took me in their home. Draco's grandfather found me on the streets, almost dead, after I had run away from my abusive step father "

Harry was beyond shocked. He had never imagined that Snape, the most imposing teacher, had had such a childhood.

"The first two foster homes were…unfit for a child. I ended up in a hospital way too many time" Snape continued, remembering the month he had spent in the hospital after being rescued my Lucius's father.

"Sev-Severus…um…no offence but what does this have to do with me?" Harry asked a bit confused. He never thought about what his relatives did as abuse. Yes, his uncle sometimes hit him but it was only punishment…of course in the last two summers the punishments were worse than before. But he never really abused him. Not in the way that Snape had been.

"When I was rescued I also had to make some very hard choices. The first choice was to admit that I was abused since I had told everyone that I was beaten up by a street gang. I only told the truth to the one person I had begun to trust: Lucius. And just like Draco, the first thing that he did was to talk to an adult. Like you I was upset for weeks. I didn't want to see him, I screamed at him every time I got a chance. But during the trial against my last foster parents, I finally understood his reasons. And Harry…I am thankful he did what he did… I am thankful he "betrayed" my trust because like this I got the chance to finally be part of a real family. "

"I understand that sir…but…your situation was different. I mean…you were adopted…and you were really abused by your foster parents…um…"

"Are you telling me that what your relatives are doing is not called abuse? " Snape asked, amazed that Harry didn't understand that what was happening in his life was wrong.

"Well…not really…I mean…uncle Vernon hits me sometimes but just to punish me…if I don't have my chores done…you know …stuff like that. It's nothing too serious. I think both you and Draco are over-reacting. I am grateful that my relatives took me in their home when my parents died. Who knows what could have happened otherwise?" Harry didn't know why he was defending his relatives. Part of him knew that it was called abuse and that it was wrong. But he was also ashamed about letting his "family" do this to him. He didn't have the courage to admit what was really going on in that house.

"Harry…I have a question. If Draco couldn't finish his chores or he would get into a fight or he would do anything else to displease his parents do you think they would beat him? Or even slap him?" Snape asked, trying to make Harry see the reality of his life.

"No, I guess not. But…"

"But nothing. You need to understand that what your relatives are doing to you is wrong. That place is not fit for you. Your uncle should be in jail. Harry…don't you understand…they have abused you, neglected you. They need to pay for this " Snape said, turning the discussion towards the trial. He had no idea how Harry was going to react to it.

After Harry stared at his shoes and had not said a word for five minutes, Snape decided it was time to break the silence.

"Harry?"

"What could you do about it?" Harry asked, looking at Severus. What could his teacher do for him? He wasn't the first one to try it. There had been a teacher who had tried to help him and she was fired. Harry didn't want that to happen to Snape and he didn't know what he could do…more that the others had done for him.

"First, you should talk to a lawyer. I-I contacted a friend of mine, Remus Lupin and he has agreed to take the case."

"You talked to someone before talking to me? Doesn't my decision mean anything? What is it with both you and Draco…taking decisions behind my back!" Harry said, on his way to the door.

"Harry…Harry calm down and listen to me. You only have to talk to him. If you don't want to, he will not go to trial. Just talk to him; let him give you the options. Harry, both Draco and me are only trying to help you. Please." Snape said, hoping that Harry would accept his help.

After thinking for a few minutes, Harry finally gave his answer.

"O-ok. But I only talk to him. No trial if I don't want it. " Harry answered, hoping he was making the right decision.

"Fine. Now there's something else I want to talk to you about."

"Don't worry…I'm on my way to Draco. I guess…I sort of understand why he told you…I'm not that upset anymore. I-I should go. "

"Ok. I'll let you know when Remus will be here. Ok?"

"Yeah. Um…Severus? "

"Yes?"

"Thanks. It's nice to know someone cares." Harry said, not meeting Snape's eyes.

"You're welcome. "

"Bye."

After Harry left, the first thing that he did was to look for Draco. He found him in the piano class, rehearsing for the contest.

"Hi Draco."

End of chapter

Finally done. I know Snape is totally OOC…well…so is Harry.

Hope you liked the chapter. Please review…

Thanks to: **lampshadesrgreat, Hpfreakout, blackdragonofdeath13, feshnie (**Remus and Sev are really friends; as for Sirius I am not sure yet…**), charl1e, TanAlike, Smaranda**


	14. chapter 14

Disclaimer: don't own…

A/N sorry it took so long. For the first time it's not my fault. As you probably know the server was down and I couldn't upload the chapter.

Previously:

"Don't worry…I'm on my way to Draco. I guess…I sort of understand why he told you…I'm not that upset anymore. I-I should go. "

"Ok. I'll let you know when Remus will be here. Ok?"

"Yeah. Um…Severus? "

"Yes?"

"Thanks. It's nice to know someone cares." Harry said, not meeting Snape's eyes.

"You're welcome. "

"Bye."

After Harry left, the first thing that he did was to look for Draco. He found him in the piano class, rehearsing for the contest.

"Hi Draco."

Chapter 14

"Hi Draco" Harry said nervous

"Hi…what are you doing here?" Draco asked startled. It was the first time in a week since Harry had told him anything.

"I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry about the way I've been acting for the last week. I had…I had a talk with Severus and I guess…I guess I'm starting to understand your reasons for telling him" Harry answered, hoping the other boy would understand him and maybe forgive him. His worst fear was that after everything that had happened in the last week and a half, Draco would hate him and would reject him.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. I should have talked to you about it first but I knew you wouldn't agree to me telling my uncle. What do you mean you talked to him? " Draco asked confused.

"Well, he kept me behind after piano class and …and we talked a lot. More like he talked a lot and I listened. He…um…he told me about his childhood and…I guess…he helped me make a decision"

"A decision? What do you mean?"

"He told me about his friend, Remus Lupin. And I have decided to talk to him."

"Harry that's great!" Draco said, happy that Harry was trying to make things better.

"Yeah. Well…I only agreed talking to him. I don't think I want to go to trial against the Dursleys."

"But…"

"Draco let's not talk about this anymore. When Mr. Lupin gets here I'll think about it."

"Ok. So…I've been meaning to talk to you about something too." Draco asked, hoping that Harry would take his offer.

"What about?" Harry asked curios.

"What are you doing on Christmas?"

Oh nothing. I'll stay in the shed, with only a blanket, no food, water from a hose and of course making no sound during the Christmas party if I want a present…no beatings for two days. Great way to spend such a special day. Not that Draco needs to know that.

"Harry?"

"What? Oh, sorry. Um…nothing interesting. Why do you ask?"

"Well…I was wondering if you'd like to come and spend Christmas holiday at my house. I've asked my parents about it in my last letter and they can't wait to meet you. So…what do you think? "

"I don't know Draco" Harry answered finding a spot on the floor extremely interesting.

"Come on…we'll have fun." Draco asked in a pleading tone.

"I don't want to intrude on your family Draco. This is a family celebration" _and I have no family._

"That's why I am asking. As my boyfriend you are family." Draco said, finally understanding Harry's refusal.

"I don't know Draco. What if the Dursleys don't agree?"

"I will send them a letter. But from what you've told me about you're uncle, I'm sure he won't mind. You are spending your holiday with a Malfoy."

"I'll think about it. That's all I can promise"

"No, you're coming. Please." Draco pleaded, giving Harry a kiss.

"Draco…"

"Please…"

"Ok. I guess." _Hope I'm doing the right thing._

"Great! I'll write my parents to tell them you are coming. They'll be really happy. They've been waiting to meet you for weeks."

"Ok. So…" Harry continued not knowing what to say to Draco. It had been a hard week on him, not being able to rely on his boyfriend's support. He missed talking to Draco. But now it was over. Things were slowly coming back to normal.

"Let's go have dinner. I'm starving. I've been rehearsing for a while and I was planning on skipping dinner. But now that you're with me…we can go have dinner and maybe watch a movie after. What do you think?" Draco asked, wanting to spend as much time with Harry.

"Sure. We can ask the twins to lend us a movie. Let's go."

"Hi guys."

"Harry, Draco. Great to see you guys." Hermione said, hoping that the two were finally back together. She didn't know what they had argued about but the last week had been very difficult. Harry kept ignoring all her questions about Draco and the other boy would also give monosyllabic answers.

"Hermione you saw us both at lunch"

"I know Harry but at lunch you weren't talking to each other."

"What makes you think things have changes?"

"I can't feel any tension anymore. Besides, I saw you talking to each other on the way here."

"Where's Ron?" Harry asked curious. He hadn't had any time to spend with Ron during the last days since they were both busy preparing for the contest.

"He had a meeting with Professor Flitwick. He should be here in half an hour though. "

"What's the meeting about?"

"He's finally decided what to play at the contest so he has to show it to Flitwick. The professor is his supervisor. Draco have you decided what you're going to play?"

"Yeah. It took a long time but I know."

"So what are you going to play?" Harry asked. He had had the fight with Draco before the other boy had chosen.

"I'm sure you'd love to know Harry but it's a secret. If you tell me what you are going to play…than maybe…" Draco teased Harry knowing very well that Harry wasn't going to tell him.

"In your dreams. You'll just have to wait until the contest. But please…please tell me."

"Don't think so. Now let's have something to eat."

"Please. I'm so curious." Harry pouted, hoping to get Draco to tell him.

"Not a chance. Now eat your dinner and then we can go watch a movie." Draco said, ignoring Harry's protests. It was very, very hard to ignore the other boy but he really wanted to surprise Harry at the contest.

"What are you guys going to see?" Hermione asked.

"Not sure yet. We were going to get a video from the twins. Do you and Ron want to come with us? " Harry asked, hoping Draco wouldn't mind. It had been a while since the four had done things together and he missed it.

"Come where?"

"Ron! How was your meeting?" Hermione asked her boyfriend.

"It was fine. Flitwick thinks I have good chances of winning. So…go where?"

"Harry and Draco are going to watch a movie. Do you want to go?"

"Sure. Why not? "

"Ok. Let's finish dinner and then we can talk to the twins." Draco said.

After dinner the four went to the twins to pick a movie. By the end of the movie, which was extremely sad, Hermione had tears on her cheeks. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by the boys, who teased her trough the rest of the evening, which was spent doing homework…something that Hermione had insisted on.

End of chapter

A/N I know it isn't a very interesting chapter. But I thought I would do a chapter that isn't so focused on Harry abuse for once. You know…give him a break. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review.

Thanks to: **HPfreakout,** **lampshadesrgreat, TanAlike, Aelita E. Mlafoy, play-nicely-draco, chalr1e, cicatrix (**I will probably be saying this a lot but my story is different than Life…yes I know the story…and yes Gold Snitcher knows about my story and she said she had nothing against the fact that the instruments were the same. It was merely a coincidence. If you don't like my story just don't read it.**), Snarky Elly (**I explained in one of the chapters that Harry's money from school came from a trust fond done by his parents. So the Dursleys aren't really paying for Harry…**), feshnie, harrypotter move over, Smaranda.**

Don't forget to review…please…if possible no flames. Thanks.


	15. chapter 15

Disclaimer: blah…

_Previously:_

_After dinner the four went to the twins to pick a movie. By the end of the movie, which was extremely sad, Hermione had tears on her cheeks. Of course this didn't go unnoticed by the boys, who teased her trough the rest of the evening, which was spent doing homework…something that Hermione had insisted on._

Chapter 15

A week passed after that night and things hadn't changed that much. Harry and Draco were closer than ever. They hadn't had any fights after their last one. Though sometimes you could still feel a bit of tension. Harry was waiting for "the talk" with Remus Lupin. He was really nervous. He didn't want to press charges against the Dursleys. But after talking a few times with Severus he realized that for the first time there was a chance to get out of that place…but only if he pressed charges. During the last week he had opened up a bit to Severus, talking more about his home life. He was far from ok and there were still secrets, even things that Draco didn't know about, nor would he ever know. But for the moment it was enough.

"Mr. Potter, stay behind." Snape said.

"Yes sir."

When the piano class was over he went at the front desk to talk to Severus. Draco had also stayed with him even though he didn't know what this was about.

"Remus Lupin arrived an hour ago, Harry. He's waiting in my chambers to talk to you." Severus said.

"N-now? I-I have violin class right now. Can't we do this a bit later?" Harry said, immediately getting nervous and starting to tremble a bit.

"Harry, calm down. Both Severus and me will be there with you. We've talked about this before. You're not alone in this. Let's go… " Draco told Harry, after that, giving him a hug.

Harry knew he had nothing to worry about…it was only a talk. But he was supposed to talk about his home life with a complete stranger. He trusted Draco and he had begun to trust Severus also but the lawyer…that was completely different. Severus had told him that Mr. Lupin had been a very good friend of his but that didn't make things any different…for him it was still a stranger.

When they arrived to Severus's chambers, Harry had once again begun to tremble. As much as Draco tried to calm him down, Harry was too scared about what was going to happen.

"Harry. Meet Remus Lupin." Severus told him.

"H-hi. N-nice to meet you sir." Harry answered, shaking Lupin's hand.

"None of this sir thing Harry. Please, call me Remus."

"Ok si…um…Remus." Harry felt awkward. He had expected a very formal meeting, a person that would instantly dislike him. But as much as he hated admitting it, even though he didn't know Remus he felt quite comfortable around him.

"Any of you would like some tea?" Severus asked.

"Thank you Severus, that would be great. " Remus answered. Both Draco and Harry also accepted the offer.

"Now…Harry…Severus has told me about your case. I also know that you don't want to press charges. For now I am only going to ask you some questions and than we will talk about the possibility of a trial. Ok?" Remus said, trying to make Harry comfortable and not pushing him in any direction.

"Ok. So…so where do we start?"

"Well…you've been living with the Dursleys since you were one…right?"

"Yes."

"How about you tell me a bit about your life there? I will only ask questions if I want something cleared. I will take notes about what you say and than I will help you make a decision. Is that ok?"

"I guess…."

Three hours later the questions had finally stopped. It had been very difficult for Harry. At some points he didn't think he could continue. But Draco was always there, offering his silent support.

Draco and Severus had been horrified about the extent of the abuse. They also knew that Harry hadn't told everything but Remus hadn't pushed him. He had kept his word; he had only interfered in Harry's story only when he needed to clear up some things.

"Now…Severus told me that you don't want to go to trial." Remus started, but Harry abruptly cut him of.

"No trial. I don't want to have to tell this to other people. It's enough that I told you. Can't I just move somewhere else? Without a trial?" Harry asked, hoping that he wouldn't have to face his so-called relatives in court.

"Harry…they are your guardians. Unless we prove that they are unfit to take care of you, there is no way you can leave their home. Until you're 18 you are under their guardianship. "

"But…"

"Harry…I won't lie to you…this trial won't be easy. But think about the results…in the end you won't have to see them ever again. " Remus told him, hoping to convince him.

"And you won't be alone. Severus and myself will be with you. Please Harry…I don't want to see you hurt again." Draco told him.

"What happens…if I win?" Harry asked, hoping that going to trial was the right thing to do. He had listened to Remus, Severus and Draco…they were right. But if he did lose…he didn't want to think what Vernon would do.

"_When _we win…because there is no chance to lose this case, you will be moved to another home. The state will appoint a guardian for you…"

"What? I don't want to go to some stranger. No way…I'd rather stay with the Dursleys." Harry shouted.

"Harry…you won't be staying with a stranger. We won't let that happen. " Remus said, trying to calm down the boy. He had already talked with Severus about this and they had reached a decision.

"Harry…"Severus started. He knew that once he was going to ask Harry to live with him there was no turning back. But the boy needed to know that he wasn't alone in this. He needed it…it was the only way he was going to press charges and it was the only way he was going to get through the trial.

"Harry…I know you don't know me very well…but I would like to take over the guardianship. I talked with Remus about it and he said that it is possible."

"What?" Harry asked bewildered. "Come live with you?"

"You don't have to make your decision now…it was just an idea…" Severus answered, for the first time, unsure of himself.

"You'd do that for me?" Harry couldn't believe it. Severus was ready to take him in his home. He didn't even know him but he was ready to take him in. After asking this question he did something that he never thought he would do. He hugged Severus…he hoped that Severus wouldn't come to regret his decision.

"I would love to live with you. But…are you sure? I mean…you don't know me that well…and we've never been…" Harry asked nervous. _ Great Harry…the man just offered you a home and here you go ruining things…great work._

"Of course I am sure. Now that we have this established…I take it you are going to press charges?" Severus asked.

"I guess…but…um…Remus? Is there a chance we could lose?" Harry asked nervously.

"Harry…there is always a chance to lose. But we have a strong case. Your teachers will also testify…and with your testimony I don't think we will have any problems. Now…I have to go…I have a meeting in one hour with a client. I will talk to you again soon. Draco told me you were spending Christmas at his house… "

"Yes…is there a problem?" Harry asked, hoping that he could still stay with Draco.

"No…not at all. I will start everything after Christmas so that you can enjoy your holidays. Ok?"

"Thank you."

"Severus, it was great seeing you again…even though the circumstances weren't that great. I'll talk to you after Christmas. Draco, send my best wishes to your family."

"Ok Remus. Bye."

After Remus left, Harry, Draco and Severus talked about the holidays, which were approaching fast. Harry was really excited to spend his Christmas away from the Dursleys. He had also talked with Severus and they had established that Harry was also going to spend a couple of days with him so that they could get to know each other. Remus had assured them that Severus would get the guardianship of Harry.

When they left Severus, both boys went to search for Hermione and Ron. It was time they told them about what had been going on in the last few months. Draco knew that Harry would need a lot of support during the following months and his best friends had to know about all this.

End of chapter

A/N hope you liked the new chapter…please tell me what you think…that is…please review…

Thanks: ** Nejidragon, harry potter move over, feshnie, Lexie, HPfreakout, lampshadesrgreat, char1le, Pyrefly, Smaranda, Irina.**


	16. chapter 16

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

_When they left Severus, both boys went to search for Hermione and Ron. It was time they told them about what had been going on in the last few months. Draco knew that Harry would need a lot of support during the following months and his best friends had to know about all this._

Chapter 16

Hermione and Ron's reactions were just as Harry had expected. Hermione was almost hysterical in the end and Ron didn't say a word for about five minutes. Then of course he started cursing and then he fell silent again from shock that Snape was going to be Harry's guardian. They also offered to be witnesses at the trial because they knew about Harry's lack of food during the summer and that could actually help the neglect charge.

Christmas break came very quickly. (A/N I wanted to change the scenery a bit so I moved a bit in the timeline). It was their last day at Hogwarts and both Harry and Draco were packing their clothes for the holiday. In the end it had been decided that Harry would stay at Snape's place because they didn't think two days were enough to get to know each other. Harry would spend Christmas day with Draco and his family. Of course Severus would also be there.

"Everything packed?" asked Draco. He was very happy that he would get to spend all Christmas Day with his boyfriend. They could finally get some time alone. In the last few weeks they hadn't had much time for anything. They had been preparing the concert for the contest (it was a tradition that the participating schools would play a concert and in the end there would be a winner) and they also had to prepare for their own pieces…so they had very little time together. He had sent a letter to Vernon Dursley about a week and half before telling him about how Harry was a very good friend of his and how he wanted him to come to his place during the holiday. He had left out the part that Harry was actually going to be living with Snape. Of course Vernon was only to happy to accept the offer…it meant getting rid of Potter for once and this meant he only had to see him during the summer.

"Yeah…I'm packed." Harry answered. It was the first time since he had staring going to Hogwarts, that he was leaving for the holidays and actually felt happy about it. He was a bit nervous of course…he was going to spend two weeks with Severus and though he trusted him a lot he was still unsure about him. He still doubted the fact that Severus really wanted to get guardianship over him…and he had talked about this with him a lot over the last few weeks. But no matter what Severus said he just couldn't really make himself believe the fact that someone really wanted him. The years he spent at the Dursleys had conditioned him in believing that he wasn't really wanted by anyone. He knew that this wasn't right but he didn't know what to do with all the doubt…someone to care for him was something that he couldn't believe…not after all this time. All he could do was hope that Severus wouldn't kick him out after the first few days and send him back to the Dursleys.

"Are you ok? You've been awfully quiet today. Is something bothering you? That is…something else than the usual? " Draco asked concerned.

"No, just the usual. Are you done packing?"

"Yeah…we should get some sleep. We leave early tomorrow. My parents are coming to pick me up at 8 and as far as I know uncle Sev wants to leave at 8 too. I can't wait for you to meet my parents. Mum's going to love you the minute she meets you." Draco said grinning.

"I'm pretty nervous about this whole thing. I mean…what if they won't like me that much? It's not like I am normal…you know…i just…" Harry started unsure of himself. He wanted to meet Draco's parents but he wasn't sure they were going to approve of him. He wasn't exactly a normal teenager boy. And the fact that he was going to trial in a month or so, accusing his relatives of abuse wasn't making things easier either.

"Harry…love, stop this. My mum doesn't know you yet and she already thinks of you as family. It's going to be great you'll see. And Severus is going to make sure you have a great holiday. Trust me! Now let's get some sleep. "

"Dray…um…can I ask you a favor?" Harry asked staring at the floor.

"Sure…what's up?" Draco answered curious of what Harry was going to ask him.

"Could we…um…like…share a bed tonight? I just…um…I don't want any nightmares tonight and…"

"Harry…of course. You know you don't have to be so nervous about this. It's not the first time we've shared the bed." It was true…they had discovered after many nightmare filled nights that Harry slept better if Draco was with him. Of course Harry was always very nervous about sharing a bed. Sometimes Draco suspected that it was more than just sharing a bed with him but he kept dismissing these thoughts. Harry would have told him if something else was the problem.

"Thanks…I just want to rest before tomorrow. I am really nervous and I'm not sure I could get any sleep otherwise."

"Harry can you get the door, please? I haven't finished dressing yet." Draco asked him in the morning.

"Sure. Oh, good morning Severus. "

"Morning. Are you both ready? Draco's parents are also waiting downstairs. I wanted to see if you needed any help. Have you finished packing?"

"Yes…last night." Harry answered.

"Did you pack warm stuff? It gets cold at the manor. I don't want you getting sick during the holidays."

"Don't worry Severus. Draco helped me pack. I think I have enough clothes to last me for a year. He even made me get some stuff from him. He said that he doesn't think my clothes are right for winter time." _Of course, he is right. I truly don't think a sweatshirt and T-shirts are proper winter clothes…_Harry thought. He also felt weird being asked all these questions by Sev. He wasn't used to someone actually paying attention to what he wore or whether he was sick or not. But as weird as he felt about it he actually liked it. It was nice to feel cared for.

"Good. Well…if you don't need any help that I will see you both downstairs. Please hurry up. I want to leave as soon as possible" Severus answered.

"Draco let's go. Severus was here and he told us to hurry. You're parents are already here."

"Ok, ok, I'm coming. Let's go."

"Mum, Dad! It's great to see you." Draco said grinning. He hugged both his parents. Nobody else was around except Harry and Severus since all the other students had already left the day before with the Hogwarts Express.

"Draco! I missed you. Oh! You must be Harry. I am Narcissa Malfoy." Draco's mum said and gave Harry a hug. (A/N yes…i know…she would never do that…well that's the great thing about fan fiction I guess.)

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Malfoy" Harry answered nervous. He was quite startled by Draco's mum display of affection. He wasn't used to hugs and this had come as a surprise.

"Please call me Narcissa." Narcissa said smiling at him.

"Lucius Malfoy. "

"Nice to meet you, sir." Harry answered, shaking his hand.

"Call me Lucius. I am happy to finally meet you. Draco's letter have been filled with stories about you." Lucius told Harry also smiling.

"Severus are you leaving now?"

"Yes we'll be leaving also. Harry are you ready to go?"

"Yes si-Severus".

Severus had noticed the slip. Harry hadn't been calling him sir for a quite a while now. He knew that the other boy was nervous about meeting Draco's parents but he hadn't thought that he would be so scared to revert to his old habits.

"Ok. Then we should be going. Why don't you say goodbye to Draco while I have a word with his parents?" Severus said, deciding not to talk to Harry about his slip until before they settled at the manor.

"Ok."

"Bye…"

"I'll see you on Christmas ok?" Draco said.

"Ok. " Harry answered, tense and nervous about the next few days.

"Harry…calm down. Things will be ok. I'll call you tonight so you can tell me how everything is. I gave you my email address so you'd better write. I'll see you next week."

"See you next week…" Harry said, giving Draco a kiss.

After this the two separated, Harry going with Severus and Draco with his parents (A/N wow…this sentence was…um…obvious…sorry but I couldn't find a way to end the chapter)

End of chapter

Thanks to: **Smaranda, feshnie, DanishGirl, lampshadesrgreat, SnakeTalker, charl1e, HPfreakout, Star Girl11, truthxinxshadow. **


	17. chapter 17

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

_After this the two separated, Harry going with Severus and Draco with his parents._

Chapter 17

Severus and Harry arrived at the manor after a two-hour drive. Harry hadn't talked much though Severus had certainly tried to engage him in conversations. He didn't push him though, knowing that the boy was nervous. And that was definitely visible with the slight shake of hands that he had.

"We're here. Welcome to Snape Manor." Severus told him, after parking the car in front of the manor.

"Thank you." Harry answered staring at the house in front of him. It wasn't very big but it was definitely bigger that the one in Privet Drive. Just as he was about to continue a woman opened the door and went to hug Severus.

"Mr. Severus, great too see you again."

"Hello Marie. How are things going here? "

"Fine sir. And this must be Mr. Harry."

"Yes, this is Harry. Harry this is Marie. She takes care of the house and she also does the cooking sometimes… "

"Nice to meet you ma'am." Harry answered politely

"Why don't we go inside? Marie have you prepared Harry's room like I told you?" Severus asked with a smile. Marie had been taking of the house for about 10 years since he had bought it. She was very fond of Severus and always made sure everything was ok in the house.

"Yes sir. "

A few minutes after, they arrived at Harry's room. He was amazed. The room was big and it had everything he would ever need. The walls were navy blue and the hangings around the bed matched the color. He had a desk near the window, a nightstand near the bed, and a big wardrobe. All in all the rooms was fantastic and he just couldn't stop staring.

"And this is the bathroom," Severus said after opening a door that Harry hadn't noticed.

There were a few moments of silence, in which Harry looked around the room.

"So…is it ok?" Severus asked.

"I-it's fantastic. This is great. Thank you so much Severus." _Let's just hope that you don't come to regret this._

Severus was happy that Harry liked the room. He had talked to Marie about a week before, asking her which room would be best for Harry and it was her that had chosen. She bought new furniture and she had chosen very well. Severus noticing Harry's smile fade a bit decided to ask him why.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-yes. Why do you ask? " Harry answered staring at the floor.

"You seemed a bit sad for a moment. "

"It's nothing, really." Harry said, hoping Severus would leave it. No such luck…

"Harry, please, just tell me what's wrong. Is this about the room? "

"No! The room is great. I just…well…what if you…if you change your mind? What if after a few days spent together you decide you don't like me and you just…send me back?" Harry said, the last few words being said in a whisper and he didn't realize he had started shaking.

"Harry…I told you before and I will keep telling you this…I won't go away. I know you are nervous about all this…I know that you still can't believe that you are getting away from the Dursleys...i know that it's hard to believe that someone actually cares but it's the truth. Harry…you have to start trusting me…"

"But I do trust you!" Harry interrupted

"You do…but not enough to understand that I wouldn't send you back to your relatives. I know it's not easy but it will get better. I know you're scared about the trial but you heard Remus…there's no way we could loose…ok?" Severus said, trying to calm him down.

"I guess…but…"

"No buts Harry…everything will be ok." Severus said and then hugged the boy. After a while Harry's shaking stopped and he was finally much calmer.

"Now…why don't you unpack while I go and talk to Marie a bit. What would you like for lunch?"

"Oh…whatever you're having." _It's not like the Dursleys ever allowed me to choose. Oh! They did…between water and bread…_

"Are you sure? Marie would be happy to cook anything for you. " Severus said, having a vague idea of why Harry didn't want to choose.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Anything is fine."

"Ok, I'll see you downstairs when you finish unpacking."

"Ok."

About half an hour later Harry went in the living room where he found Severus talking to Marie.

"Harry! Finished packing?"

"Yes. "

"Mr. Harry would you like something to drink? " Marie asked.

"No thanks you. And please could you not call me Mr.?"

"Of course. Are you sure about the drink? Maybe some hot chocolate? "

"Um…well…I-I'd like that please. B-but I can make some for myself if you show me where everything is." Harry said, blushing. He was not used to people doing things for him and this was certainly weird for him.

"Harry sit own. Marie will bring you the hot chocolate. Marie I' also like some tea, please."

"Of course, I will be right back." Marie said and then left for the kitchen.

"Harry…you don't have to be so shy with Marie. It's her job to do these things. I know you are not used to it but it will get easier with time. Now…do you have any plans for today?"

"Um…no. I thought of maybe start doing my homework and I have to rehearse a bit at my violin…if that's ok of course. I mean…I…um…I don't have to play the violin…I can just wait till we get back for school…" Harry said, nervous. The Dursleys never allowed him to practice during the holiday.

"What do you mean not practice for two weeks? You will practice every day for at least an hour. There is no discussion there." Severus said in a stern voice.

"Oh…ok. I just thought…"

"Harry…did your relatives allow you to practice? " Severus asked, knowing the answer.

"Um…not really." Harry answered, hoping that Severus wouldn't want many details.

"So how much did you usually practice during a summer holiday? "

"Well…I didn't." Harry answered knowing there was no way out of this conversation.

"They locked all my belongings in the cupboard under the stairs."

"When did you do your homework?"

"Well…sometimes…like this year…I sort of broke the lock at the cupboard and got some of my stuff out so I wrote during the night and sometimes during the train ride or in the first night at school." Harry asked ashamed.

"I see. Well, things are different now. You will practice everyday and I want you to finish your homework before returning to school. I will be checking your essays. If you need any help don't hesitate to ask me. Also, if you need any extra information you can use the books in the library. Now…have you done any Christmas shopping?" Severus asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah…I finished it last weekend when we went in Homesgade."

"I see. Well I still have some things to buy so I will be going in town today. Would you like to come with me?" Severus asked.

"Um…could I stay here sir? I'd like to practice a bit." Harry asked, nervous.

"Of course." Severus answered, knowing that the only reason Harry was staying behind to practice now was because he didn't want to disturb him with the music. Severus hoped that with time Harry would understand that things were different here and that what had happened at the Dursleys wouldn't happen here.

After lunch Severus showed Harry the library and the rest of the house since he hadn't seen it.

"You can use the computer in the library. It's connected to the Internet. I suggest you use it…I am sure that Draco can't wait to hear from you." Severus asked with a smile.

"I know…he reminded me 10 times to write him" Harry asked laughing. It was the first time since he had come to the manor and Severus was delighted to see that the boy was finally calmer.

"Well…I will go now. If you need anything don't hesitate to tell Marie…I mean it. I will be back in a few hours. Do you need anything from any shop?"

"Um…no I don't think so." Harry answered.

"Well if you do just give me a call on the mobile. I left the number on your desk."

"Ok. Bye Sev."

"Bye."

After Severus left, Harry went to the library and turned on the computer. He noticed that Draco was online so he decided to chat with him before practicing.

"Hey Dray."

"Harry! How are things ate the manor?"

End of chapter

A/N I thought this was an ok ending. No I won't continue their chat during next chapter. Please review.

Thanks to: **Layce74, LenJade (**I will give more details about the abuse during the trial…**), harry potter move over (**thanks**), HPfreakout, Fangfoot, lampshadesrgreat (**the Malfoys already know about Harry's problems…Draco made sure of that**), DanishGirl, Lex, charl1e, black-ravenrose, Smaranda.**


	18. chapter 18

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

_After Severus left, Harry went to the library and turned on the computer. He noticed that Draco was online so he decided to chat with him before practicing._

"_Hey Dray."_

"_Harry! How are things at the manor?"_

Chapter 18 

Severus arrived at the manor a few hours later after finishing his Christmas shopping. It had been difficult to decide what to get for Harry. Or what not to get him. He had bought him everything he would ever need and more. He had also bought him something that Harry had told him during their talks that he wanted since he was a small child but the Dursleys never allowed it.

The moment he entered his house he heard the sounds of violin. Apparently Harry was studying his plays for the concerts. Severus listened for a while and than decided to talk to the boy. Of course he didn't realize he would get quite a reaction from Harry.

After talking to Draco for about an hour, and reading some chapters from a book he had burrowed from Sev's library Harry decided it was time to work a bit on his violin. He had been playing for about an hour trying to learn his songs when Severus startled him. Only not being used to practicing when not at school the moment he saw Severus, memories of his uncle overwhelmed him. He remembered one of the times his uncle had caught him practicing.

_Flashback:_

_A twelve-year-old Harry was practicing in the living room while the Dursleys were out to buy Dudley some presents. _

"_BOY! What are you doing here playing that freaking thing? Who the hell gave you permission? GET TO YOUR ROOM WHILE YOUR AUNT AND I DECIDE YOUR PUNISHMENT! Can't you hear me boy? NOW!" Vernon yelled at a terrified Harry. _

_He hadn't realized he had practiced for so long. He couldn't believe he hadn't watched the time. He always lost himself in the music and this wasn't the first time he had been caught. But he really needed to practice. The first year at Hogwarts had been great but all the teachers had insisted that in order to continue with so good grades and results at the inter school competitions he needed to practice a lot during the summer break. Of course his teachers hadn't taken in consideration his relatives who hated anything that had to do with his music or his violin. And after being caught today he doubted he would be able to practice again this summer, thought a very terrified Harry. And he was right…_

"_Boy! What did I tell you this morning before we left?" Vernon yelled and then kicked Harry._

"_Answer me!" Vernon continued knowing that the child couldn't possibly answer back after being kicked yet again._

"_You think it's funny to disobey the rules I set out? DO YOU?" a purple-faced Vernon yelled._

"_N-no…please Uncle Vernon. Ple-please st-stop. I-I'm sorry." Harry stuttered, while truing to protect himself from the blows from his uncle. He had never seen him so mad. For the first time in a long time, Harry was afraid for his life. And the blows kept coming…he could hear himself screaming in pain but for the first time he couldn't bring himself to stop. _

"_Pl-please st-stop…"_

End of flashback 

Severus was surprised when Harry turned around to see him and he detected fear in his eyes. After talking a step toward him the boy fell on the floor and curled in a tight ball all the time muttering that he was sorry. Severus knew the boy was having a flashback. After being rescued by the Malfoy's he had had a few flashbacks. He knew how it felt to relive all the pain again. So he tried the only thing he could: try to get Harry out of it.

"Harry! Harry, listen to me. Your uncle is not here. He can't hurt you anymore. " Severus started but he was cut of by a piercing scream. Harry had started screaming and in the same time he was trying to curl even more. How he could do this was a mystery for Severus. In the end Severus did the one thing that Harry really needed right now. He offered him comfort. He hugged Harry, not taking in consideration the initial struggle, the tense posture of the boy. After a few minutes of rocking him like a baby and muttering nonsense to him the boy finally calmed down a bit and stopped struggling.

Harry could feel himself being rocked. He could hear someone saying things like "Shh…it's ok…you're safe". And he felt safe…after a while he realized that it was Severus that was holding him. He felt embarrassed… but after a minute of struggle he decided that he felt to safe to care.

After about ten minutes, Harry's breathing slowed down and Severus realized that the boy was asleep. It wasn't unexpected as this had been a very difficult afternoon for him. He got him to his room and then went to talk to Marie about the dinner plans.

About an hour later Severus returned to Harry's room. The boy hadn't moved from the position that he had left him. Severus would have left him to sleep but they hadn't eaten anything since lunch when Harry had barely touched his food because of his nervousness so he decided it was time for him to wake up.

"Harry, wake up" Severus said, shaking the boy a bit.

"Hi. Um…when…when did I fall asleep?" Harry asked, confused. The last thing he remembered was playing the violin, and then getting startled by Severus.

"You had a flashback. It took me a while to calm you down " Severus answered, his voice telling Harry that he had been very concerned.

After hearing Severus's answer, Harry immediately remembered the flashback. ..it had been one of the worst beatings Vernon had given him and it was also the first time Vernon experimented new forms of punishment.

"Harry…are you ok?" Severus asked, concerned, after seeing that the boy had started to tremble a bit.

"What? Oh…yeah, I'm fine." Harry answered, trying to stop the overwhelming flow of memories.

"Are you sure? What was the flashback about?" Severus asked, hoping to pry some information from the boy.

"Oh…remember how I told you at lunch that the Dursleys didn't really allow me to practice?" Harry asked. He didn't want to tell Sev about the flashback but for some reason he felt compelled to, even though he would skip over some of the details just like he had when he had talked to Draco about the abuse.

"Yes…"

"Well…so-sometimes I could get hold of my violin when they were gone. And sometimes I'd get caught" Harry said with a shrug.

"And…" Severus continued,. He could feel this was going to be hard. Harry had already started closing up like he always did few minutes after a nightmare or after breaking down.

"And I'd get punished. " Harry said skipping over the details and sounding as if this was just a talk about the weather outside.

"What made this flashback so special Harry? And don't you dare answer me that it was nothing because it sure didn't sound like it" Severus said in a stern yet gentle voice.

"I don't know…I haven't had a flashback in a while…I don't know" Harry said, trying to avoid the truth. He didn't want to think what would happen if Sev would know his secret. He couldn't bare the thought.

"Harry…don't lie. Tell me the truth about the flashback. I know you hate talking about this but it will help" Severus said. He had a faint idea about what the boy was thinking about. But he couldn't be sure and he was hoping that the boy would answer truthfully for once.

"I told you! I don't know! It was just another beating! How should I know why I chose that moment? I guess you startled me and I remembered one of the time I got caught by my uncle practicing the violin!" Harry started yelling. He hated this conversation. He wanted to tell Sev everything. He needed to talk about things but he didn't think the other would understand.

After a few moments of silence Severus realized that Harry would never tell him everything unless he would be asked. He knew that if his suspicions were correct and he was almost certain they were Harry's world would change with this question. But he needed to know the whole truth in order to continue to help the boy.

"Harry…I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to tell me the truth. No matter how hard it is. You can trust me with anything. You know that right?" Sev asked, nervous.

Harry was terrified of what Sev was going to ask him. All he could do was nod and wait for the question.

"Harry…has your uncle ever sexually abused you?" Sev asked in a quiet voice but loud enough for Harry to hear.

End of chapter

**A/N** I am so, so, sorry. Both for leaving the story like this and for doing this to poor Harry. I don't exactly like this chapter, I had a lot of trouble writing it. I also think that Harry's answer and reactions would be better in a different chapter.

Tell me what you think. Was the flashback ok? I never intended on writing one because I think I suck at them…

Please review…

Thanks to: **charl1e, guardgurl123, black-ravenrose, lampshadesrgreat, HPfreakout, harrypotter move over, Pyrefly, LenJade, SnakeTalker(**thanks…I realized the mistake after I put the story up and I didn't have time to change it…glad you liked the chapter**), Star Girl11, Lex, Raven's Light (**don't worry about short reviews…you make my day with any kind…as long as it's not a flame**), Skyla Gerdes, Lydia Blue, Smaranda. **


	19. chapter 19

Disclaimer: don't own…

**A/N **I just wanted to thank you all for helping me reach **100 **reviews…i never thought I'd get here.

_Previously:_

"_Harry…I'm going to ask you a question and I need you to tell me the truth. No matter how hard it is. You can trust me with anything. You know that right?" Sev asked, nervous._

_Harry was terrified of what Sev was going to ask him. All he could do was nod and wait for the question._

"_Harry…has your uncle ever sexually abused you?" Sev asked in a quiet voice but loud enough for Harry to hear._

Chapter 19 

Harry looked like he hadn't heard the question that Sev had asked. That was until he started shaking and hyperventilating.

"Harry…Harry calm down. Take big breaths….that's it. Calm down…" Severus soothed him getting the answer to his question just from Harry's reactions. After several moments of silence he ventured with the questions.

"Are you better now?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah…"Harry answered with barely a whisper, not daring to look at his almost official guardian. He couldn't believe what had just happened. Sev definitely knew the truth now…what a freak he was…how disgusting he truly was. He would probably talk to Remus and take his offer back…who would want someone like him. And Draco…

"Harry…look at me." Severus said in a gentle voice after seeing that the child would not even face him. He suppressed a flinch after seeing Harry's haunted look.

"When did it first happen?"

"Pl-please…I…I don't want to talk about it…please Sev." Harry asked in a pleading tone. It was breaking Severus's heart but this discussion had to happen. It really couldn't wait.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but you have to. I need to know in order to help you."

"I DON'T NEED ANY HELP! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT! GET OUT! Get out…get out…leave me alone…get out…." Harry continued while rocking back and forth. He stiffened when he felt Severus's embrace but after a while he relaxed against him, trying to get his emotions under control.

"Shh…it's over. It will be ok…" Severus said, trying to calm him down.

"It won't be ok…it never will," Harry said in a whisper.

"When did it start?" Severus asked again hoping that this time Harry would answer.

"I'm not…not sure. The a-act itself when I was…twelve…" Harry said in a dead voice. Severus tightened his arms around Harry waiting for him to continue.

"Vernon always had a weird glint in his eyes when he watched me…I guess it all started when I was little. He…um…he…" Harry started but he couldn't finish. He could feel tears threatening again and he tried his best to keep them away. But no matter how hard he tried it was impossible for him to continue. He cried on Severus's shoulder for what seemed like hours before he fell asleep again.

Severus stayed with him for another hour before going downstairs to call Remus. His friend needed to know about this and add sexual abuse to the charges that were going to be pressed against Vernon in Harry's name.

"Hello Severus. How are you?" Remus said.

"Hi Remus. Not so good. I need to talk to you. It's very important. It's about Harry. Do you think you could come to the manor? I don't want to leave Harry alone." Severus asked his friend.

"Of course…it sounds serious. I will be there in half an hour."

"Thank you."

Half an hour later Remus was there. Marie had offered them some tea which both of the men gratefully accepted.

"Now…what is this all about Severus? It sounded very serious." Remus asked in a concerned voice.

"Harry…didn't tell us everything the day you talked with him. He hid something very important. I had been suspecting it ever since that day and so had Draco. Today he…he had a flashback…quite a violent one. When he woke up we talked a bit and then I asked a question I had been meaning to ask for a while. He admitted that his _uncle_ has sexually abused him. He… " Severus said but was cut off by a scream coming from Harry's room. Severus knew that Harry often had nightmares. After all this was how Draco had found out the truth about his home life. So he wasn't that shocked when he entered the room and he saw Harry on his bed trying to calm down. Of course he was shocked when Harry started talking.

"Sev…pl-please don't send me back…I'm so-sorry…please….i'm sorry I didn't st-stop him. Please…I don't wa-want to go back…" Harry kept saying while tears kept falling from his eyes. Severus hugged him (**A/N **he seems to be doing that a lot lately) and tried to calm him down. He couldn't believe that Harry actually blamed himself for this.

"Harry…of course I'm not sending you back. Calm down….this wasn't your fault. I could never blame you for this…shh…calm down." He kept repeating until after about ten minutes the boy finally calmed down.

Harry was quite embarrassed. In one day he had broken down in front of Severus three times…how his guardian could stand him Harry didn't know. He felt like his whole life had been turned upside-down in one day. Every secret he had tried so hard to keep away from the others had come to light.

"Feeling better now?" Severus asked after a few more minutes.

"I guess…I'm sorry." Harry said, not knowing what he was apologizing for.

"I have no idea what you are apologizing for…whatever it is I am sure it isn't really your fault. Now…are you hungry?" Severus asked hoping to get Harry relaxed once more.

"A bit…do you think I could eat here? Just for tonight?" Harry asked. For some reason he didn't want to leave the room. It was where he had started to feel safe. Leaving his room would mean facing everything and everyone and he wasn't ready for that.

Sensing Harry's thoughts Sev opposed the idea. He knew how Harry felt and it didn't do any good to hide.

"Harry…you can't hide from the rest of the world. I know you don't want to see anyone right now but I can't allow you to stay hidden in this room hoping that everything will go away eventually. Besides…Remus is downstairs and I am sure he would love to see you." Severus said, hoping that Harry would understand.

"Fine…so I guess…you called Remus?" Harry asked suspecting the truth behind Remus's arrival.

"I had to. We need to discuss this" Severus said but after seeing the distressed look on Harry's face he continued in a soothing voice.

"But not tonight…I promise. I think the talk with Remus can wait until after the holidays. Ok? " Severus said knowing that Harry needed a break from all this.

"Ok. Sev…can I ask for a favor?"

"Sure…what's up?" Sev asked, suspecting that this had something to do with Draco.

"Can you…can you not tell Draco, please?" Harry pleaded. He didn't think Draco would ever want to touch him again or even talk to him after he would find out about this.

"Harry… Draco would not blame you…this is not your fault…you need to start understanding this. Draco loves you and he wouldn't leave you because of this. It's just another obstacle that the both of you have to get over." Severus said trying to make the boy see some reason.

"Let's go downstairs and have dinner" Harry answered, effectively ending their talk.

"Fine…" Severus answered with a sigh.

End of chapter

**A/N **Again I apologize. This chapter was horrible. But I wanted to update because I didn't like leaving the other chapter unfinished. I will try and make it up with the next chapter…hopefully it will be longer and not so tragic…

But please tell me what you think…that is…please, please, please review.

Thanks to: **charl1e, Nejidragon, LenJade, SnakeTalker, HPfreakout, Raven's Light, Pyrefly, lampshadesrgreat, Star Girl11, feshnie, harrypotter move over, Smaranda.**

**A special thanks you to **guardgurl123** for being my 100th reviewer. **


	20. chapter 20

Disclaimer: blah…

_Previously:_

"_Can you…can you not tell Draco, please?" Harry pleaded. He didn't think Draco would ever want to touch him again or even talk to him after he would find out about this. _

"_Harry… Draco would not blame you…this is not your fault…you need to start understanding this. Draco loves you and he wouldn't leave you because of this. It's just another obstacle that the both of you have to get over." Severus said trying to make the boy see some reason._

"_Let's go downstairs and have dinner" Harry answered, effectively ending their talk._

"_Fine…" Severus answered with a sigh._

Chapter 20 

A week had passed since Severus had found out Harry's secret. He hadn't pushed the boy in talking about it, thought it seemed that the nightmares had grown worse. Every night Harry would wake up screaming, and it would take Severus even an hour to calm him down and reassure him that he wouldn't send him away.

"Harry, are you done?" Severus asked from downstairs. It was the morning of the 24th of December and the two were leaving for the Malfoy Manor. They were going to spend the rest of the holiday there.

"Yes, I'm ready. We can go" Harry answered while carrying his rucksack in one hand and his violin in the other.

"Ok, the, let's go" Severus answered, leading him to the car.

Two hours later they arrived at the Malfoy Manor. It was bigger than Severus's house, but it was still very nice. A very enthusiastic Draco greeted them, who, after saying a quick "hello" to his uncle, proceeded in giving Harry a hug and a very long kiss.

They were interrupted by Narcissa and Lucius who, after welcoming Sev and Harry showed them to their rooms. But after long negotiations and never ending promises that they wouldn't anything "wrong" Harry was allowed to share a room with Draco…this making him instantly more relaxed, knowing that his nightmares would be gone for a few days.

During the first day, Harry spent most of his time with Draco, since Narcissa was busy at the kitchen with her help Tally and Severus and Lucius had left for some last minute shopping. Not that Harry actually minded since he had missed Draco a lot during the last few days. Draco had taught him how to ride a horse, therefore he had spend several hours with him outside. After lunch Draco was sent by his father to practice and Severus of course, insisted that Harry should do the same. In the end they spent three hours practicing, Lucius supervising his son and Severus helping Harry when he needed it.

Around six o'clock they decided it was time to put up the tree, as it was a tradition for the Malfoy's and Severus, to decorate it on Christmas Eve.

"Mum?" Draco asked, getting his mother's attention.

"Yes dear, what is it?"

"I think Harry should be the one to put the star in the top this year. He's part of the family now," Draco said, while putting his arms around Harry's waist and resting his head on his shoulder.

"I think it's a great idea. Come on Harry" Narcissa answered, clearly happy about her son's idea.

"Are you sure…I mean…it's a really big deal…and i…" Harry started, staring at the floor. He _so_ wanted to do this, to feel part of the family. Thought he had only just met Draco's parents, they had made him feel welcomed and he already like them a lot. He also knew how important this tradition was. Dudley always got praised after doing this…it always made him feel the loss of a family even more.

"Harry, love, of course we want you to. You're part of this family now," Draco said, while hugging his boyfriend, trying to reassure him. He knew that Harry's mistrust came from all the years spent with his so-called "family". He wanted Harry's first real Christmas to be perfect and this included all the small traditions.

"Ok, then" Harry finally agreed.

When the tree was ready, Draco and Harry remained on the couch, arms wrapped around each other, watching the tree.

"They look great together," Narcissa said in a melancholic voice, while moving with her husband and Severus in the other room.

"Yeah they do. Draco's good for Harry" Severus answered.

"Have you talked to Remus recently?" Lucius asked. The three hadn't had much time to talk about Harry's case and now seemed like a good time, with the boys away for a while.

"I talked with him last week. I called him because I needed to tell him something about Harry" Severus answered with a sigh.

"It sounds serious," Lucius said with a concerned voice.

"It is…Harry withheld some information about the abuse"

"What do you mean?" Narcissa asked. She dreaded the answer but she wanted to know in order to help Harry. Draco had talked for so long about this boy that she had come to love him even before she had met him.

"Vernon…has…has been sexually abusing Harry…apparently since he was very young."

"Oh God! How could he do this to a child? His own nephew?" Narcissa asked with tears in her eyes.

"He's a sick bastard. I can't wait to see him in jail for this and for Harry to have some stability in his life" Sev said in a disgusted voice.

"You're right. Has Harry told Draco about this?" Lucius asked, after a few minutes of silence.

"No, though I don't understand how he wants to keep it a secret. Remus is adding sexual abuse to the charges and Draco is bound to find out."

"Bu why hasn't he told him?"

"Lucius, it took me a day of yelling and crying to finally find out. He's ashamed of what has happened and he blames himself for this. He thinks Draco will leave him after he finds out"

"But it's not his fault! And Draco wouldn't leave him"

"I know that, you and Narcissa know that but Harry doesn't. Every night since the day he told me, he's been waking up screaming, and thinking that the next day I will send him away."

"But…"

"Lucius, remember how I was when your parents found me…or when I moved to our house " Severus started, to make them understand.

"Every time I'd break something or I'd wake someone with a nightmare, I'd start shaking and thinking that I was going to be sent back on the streets or to another abusive family. It took me months to start feeling safe. And I was eleven. Harry is sixteen. He's had it much worse than me, especially since I was never…sexually abused" Severus continued, angry for remembering his own childhood.

"I guess you're right. Well…we'll just have to make him feel comfortable both here and at your house. He needs to understand that he's not alone anymore. But I still think he should tell Draco" Narcissa finished with a sigh.

"I think he will…soon. I also think Draco is suspecting something. Well…let's go back and see what they're doing."

When they got back to the living room, Harry was asleep and Draco was watching him with a sad look on his face.

"Hi mum" Draco said in a whisper.

"Hi…is Harry ok?" she asked, hoping nothing bad had happened.

"Yeah…he was just tired after everything we did today. I should wake him up."

"Ok, dinner is ready, we'll wait for you" Lucius said.

"Harry…"

"Go away…I'm sleeping" Harry answered with a yawn.

"You have to wake up…it's only 8pm. And mum said that dinner is ready, Come on…Harry…don't fall asleep…I mean it…Harry…" Draco whined, seeing his boyfriend falling asleep again. After a few more minutes of pleading and tickling, Harry was finally awake. Dinner wasn't eventful and of course none of the adults mentioned their earlier talk, though it was on their mind for sure.

On Christmas morning, Draco acted just like a five-year-old. After waking Harry up at six o'clock they went in the room where the tree was; of course nobody else was awake. And of course, after an hour of studying the boxes under the tree, Draco got too anxious and though Harry insisted he shouldn't, he woke up his parents and a very grumpy Severus.

"Draco, I can't believe you woke Sev at 7 o'clock and you're still alive" Harry said, laughing. Unlike Draco, he hadn't gotten near the tree. He knew some presents had his name on them but since he wasn't used to getting anything he wasn't so overexcited like Draco was.

"But Harry…I am _so _curious. And besides…it's Christmas, they have to wake up early anyway" Draco said, grinning.

"At least you didn't wake them up at 6 like you did to me. I can't believe you actually had the nerve to pour that glass of water on me" Harry answered in mocked annoyance. Draco had decided that the best way to wake Harry up, besides tickling him, was to pour icy cold water on his head.

About ten minutes later, Draco's parents and his uncle came, laughing at Sev's annoyed face for being woken up so early.

"Morning kids" Narcissa said, hugging them both. She immediately felt happier when Harry didn't flinch (like he so often did) and didn't pull away from the hug.

"Morning mum. Can we _please_ open the presents? "Draco asked in an anxious voice.

"Fine. Harry why don't you pick your first present?" Narcissa asked.

"M-me? Um…ok…i guess" Harry stuttered, blushing. Everyone noticed this, and while they considered it endearing, knowing the reasons behind the boy's shyness made them want to kill the Dursleys.

Harry picked a box that turned out to be new trainers. Apparently Sev, because the present was from him, had noticed the state of his clothes. This became even more certain when in the end he had received everything he needed to wear and more. From Draco he had received a 12 CD collection with all the famous composers and their best works (**A/N ** what I wouldn't do to have that:) and they were both stunned when they gave each other the same type of present. They had each received from the other a small bracelet that had engraved the words: "Yours forever". (**A/N** sorry…I couldn't help it:)

In the end the only thing left under the tree was a big box that had Harry's name on it.

"Another one? For me?" Harry asked stunned. It had been obvious that most of the presents under the tree were for him and he was embarrassed, not used to people buying stuff for him.

"Yes, for you. Now be careful with it…it's fragile" Sev answered, stirring Harry's curiosity. Of course all the others knew about the present and it had been Draco's real reason for being so enthusiastic.

When Harry opened the box, he was stunned…in the box was a …guinea pig (**A/N **sorry to those who don't like them but I think they're so cute…at least mine is:)

"A guinea pig?" Harry asked grinning.

"Well…you told me once you've always wanted one." Severus answered and after that a very happy Harry assaulted him.

"Thank you so much…for this…for everything" Harry told him hugging him. He willed himself not to cry but a few tears still lost their way on his cheeks.

After a few minutes, Draco thought it would be best to lighten up the mood since he saw that his mother also had tears in her eyes.

"So…what are you going to name him? It is a he…right Sev?"

"Yes" Severus answered, letting go of Harry.

"So? What are you going to name him?" Narcissa asked again, wiping her eyes.

"Um…"

End of chapter

Hope you all liked the new chapter.

I left the chapter here because I really, really, really need your help: how should I name Harry's new pet? Please give me some ideas…in your very nice reviews 

Thanks to: **Raven's Light, LenJade (**I know I sometimes hurry the scenes and sometimes I give way to many details…remember the first three or four chapters…I'm trying to get better at that…**), guardgurl123, lampshadesrgreat (**he will tell Draco…soon**), harrypotter move over, truthxinxshadow, Snake Talker (**thank you…I am glad the scenes with Harry's reactions were ok**), HPfreakout, KKfox4(**me too…check out my fav stories….**), catseye348, labpotter, Skyla Gerdes, Fangfoot, Love Ya (**thanks for the advice**), charl1e, BackwardsHits, Pyrefly, HecateDeMort, feshnie (**I am trying but I don't have so much time to write…though this new chapter was longer that the others…**), Smaranda.**


	21. chapter 21

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

"_A guinea pig?" Harry asked grinning._

"_Well…you told me once you've always wanted one." Severus answered and after that a very happy Harry assaulted him._

"_Thank you so much…for this…for everything" Harry told him hugging him. He willed himself not to cry but a few tears still lost their way on his cheeks._

_After a few minutes, Draco thought it would be best to lighten up the mood since he saw that his mother also had tears in her eyes._

"_So…what are you going to name him? It is a he…right Sev?"_

"_Yes" Severus answered, letting go of Harry._

"_So? What are you going to name him?" Narcissa asked again, wiping her eyes._

"_Um…"_

**Chapter 21 **(didn't think I'd get here…)

"Well…I'm going to name him Sage… I read this name in a book and it sounds nice" Harry answered a bit embarrassed. (**A/N Thank you LenJade for giving me the idea with the name**)

"Then Sage it is" Sev said, happy to see Harry petting the small guinea pig. Harry hadn't been in such a good mood in a long time and it delighted Sev to no end.

"Why don't you and Draco take Sage and the rest of your presents to your room and then get ready to eat. Lunch will be ready in half an hour." Narcissa told the boys while gathering all the wrapping paper that lay on the floor.

"So…did you like your presents?" Draco asked his boyfriend when they got to his room.

"They were great. Sage is so cute…it was the best "first" Christmas ever. And not…not just the presents" Harry said in a strange voice that got Draco to ask him his next question.

"What do you mean the first one? Didn't the Dursleys celebrate it?"

"Yeah they did. But I didn't. Let's not talk about it" Harry said, trying to get out of the uncomfortable conversation.

"I know you don't want to talk about it, but now is a good time…"

"But your parents…and Sev…they are waiting" Harry tried once more.

"And they can wait a bit longer, love. Now tell me…please…you can trust me…with anything" Draco tried. He knew this was probably not the right moment for such a conversation but unlike what his parents and uncle thought he had heard them talking the day before. Harry had fallen asleep almost instantly, being exhausted after the day's activities, especially after not sleeping well during the last week, so Draco had listened to their parent's conversation about the abuse. He couldn't just ask Harry about something like this but he had to get Harry to confide in him.

"Fine…"Harry said, in a resigned voice.

"The Dursleys…they always celebrated Christmas…but I was never allowed to stay with them. Um…when I was little…they…um…they kept me locked in the cupboard but when I grew up they used…the shed" Harry finished in a whisper. He had never told anyone about this. He knew that Draco probably found him pathetic after being told about this but there was no turning back. He didn't realise that Draco had moved closer to him and so he was startled when his boyfriend hugged him. He also hadn't realised that he had been crying so he was very surprised when Draco wiped his cheeks after giving him a long kiss.

"None of this was your fault Harry" Draco started but he could see Harry's doubt in his eyes.

"I wish you could believe me when I tell you this. What the Dursleys did was never your fault and they should be in jail…and they will pay for everything." Draco continued, trying very hard to get Harry to believe him. But no matter what he said, the abuse from the Dursleys won. It would take a long time before Harry would truly be free from them.

"Harry…I want to talk to you about something else. I know I shouldn't ask this…especially not today…but…I need to know" Draco started nervous. He knew Harry would never tell him the whole truth unless he asked. He had noticed that while Harry never started talking about the Dursleys and kept everything inside, if he asked about them sometimes he would get a straight answer.

"Has your uncle…ever…you know…sexually abused you?" Draco finally asked trying to keep his voice steady.

Harry was so shocked about the question that he didn't even bother to lie to his boyfriend. He didn't understand how Draco knew about this. He had kept it a secret. Only Sev and Remus knew about this so how had his boyfriend found out about this? After a few moments of silence, he started to tremble and the tears on his cheeks gave Draco the answer that he had been expecting. He gathered his love in an embrace and started to rock him like he was a small child, all the time saying soothing words, trying to calm him down. Ten minutes later, Harry had calmed down considerably, all that was left being his embarrassment. He felt ashamed not only for telling Draco but also for ever letting his uncle do all those stuff to him.

"I-i sh-should go" he said in a sad voice. "I'll a-ask Sev to drop me at school or something. I'm sure you're dis-disgusted now. I have to go…I'm sorry," Harry said in a hurry while moving to the door.

"Harry, stop. " Draco said, while hugging him from behind, not taking in consideration Harry's obvious flinch.

"You are not leaving. I. Am. Not. Disgusted. You hear me? I love you, and I am here for you. You are not going to leave me because of this." Draco said trying to assure his boyfriend. He had known that Harry would probably react this way. He remembered when Harry had told him about the abuse that the reaction was similar. Harry just didn't feel worthy enough to be loved. And Draco would make sure to change that.

"But…"

"But nothing. I will not allow you to leave me because of your uncle. I will not allow what you're relatives did to take you away from me. " Draco said wondering when he had started crying. (**A/N **a Malfoy crying…hmm…weird).

"Thank you…thank you so much" Harry said, hugging Draco, laughing and crying in the same time. He couldn't believe that Draco didn't leave him. He couldn't believe that he was willing to touch him. That he was still willing to continue this relationship.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you" Harry said in a whisper.

"You're a wonderful person Harry. I just wish you could believe me when I tell you. And I know that one day all this will be behind us and you will realise that what those "people" did was wrong…. " Draco said, still embracing his lover.

About twenty minutes later, when Severus came in their room to see what was keeping them from coming to lunch, both boys were on the bed, asleep, Draco's arms wrapped around Harry as if trying to protect him. He didn't have the heart to wake them up since it was obvious from the tear marks on Harry's cheeks that something important had happened between the two.

**End of chapter**

First of all I want to thank you all for the help with the names. It took me about an hour to decide. It would have been easier if Draco and Sev weren't characters in the story…my first guinea pig was called Sev and the one I have now…his name is Drake (It obviously comes from Draco). Anyway…I really loved all your ideas…hope I am not loosing my readers for not choosing their ideas…please keep reading my story…and please, please, please…review.

Second, I should apologize for this horrible chapter. It wasn't supposed to be so short but I haven't has much time to work on it. And I wanted to do Draco's reactions in a separate chapter…that's why I didn't add anything else. I hope you liked it anyway…at least a bit…please review.

Thanks to: **guardgurl123 (**I know this is probably not what you were expecting…I am sorry…I am not exactly ok with this chapter…sorry…**), HPfreakout (**I used to have a cat…they're also very cute…but a guinea pig works better with the story…Harry has to take the animal to Hogwarts and he can't have a cat there…**), HecateDeMort (**a guinea pig watching TV…sound really funny…**), LenJade (**thank you again**), black-ravenrose (**thank you for the idea of having Harry a bit embarrassed**), Raven's Light, darkrose (**I thought of naming him James but Sev wouldn't really approve about that name…would he?**), feshnie (**ok…so the chapter is short again…sorry, I didn't have much time to work on it as you can see…**), Pyrefly, SnakeTalker(**I know…guinea pigs are so adorable…Drake, my guinea pig, is white and has some brown hair around the neck…he's so cute…**), Rasputina, doxie(**the idea of naming it Vernon and torturing it was really funny…poor guinea pig…**), charl1e, Nejidragon, labpotter(**glad you like it…hope this last chapter…which I really don't like…hasn't erased you like for my story…**), Digianimegirl.**

**Also another special thanks to all those who have reviewed my story…I have reached 150 reviews…thank you. Please…keep reviewing…**


	22. chapter 22

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

"_You're a wonderful person Harry. I just wish you could believe me when I tell you. And I know that one day all this will be behind us and you will realise that what those "people" did was wrong…. " Draco said, still embracing his lover._

_About twenty minutes later, when Severus came in their room to see what was keeping them from coming to lunch, both boys were on the bed, asleep, Draco's arms wrapped around Harry as if trying to protect him. He didn't have the heart to wake them up since it was obvious from the tear marks on Harry's cheeks that something important had happened between the two._

**Chapter 22**

About an hour later, Harry woke up feeling better than he had in days. He was more relaxed, knowing that Draco had found out everything and no secrets were left between them. He was startled to see Draco watching him and immediately blushed.

"Hi " Harry said in a whisper.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Draco asked. He had woken up 20 minutes before but he hadn't had the heart to wake Harry up.

"Ok. We'd better go downstairs. You're parents and Sev are probably wondering what's going on."

"I guess you're right, let's go" Draco answered, getting up and dragging a very sleepy Harry after him.

Lunch was not very interesting. The two boys spent most of the time talking to each other, ignoring those around. They hadn't mentioned a word about what had happened earlier since neither felt the need to for now. Things got interesting around desert when Lucius had some announcements to make.

"Tonight we will have guests" Lucius started, knowing that Draco would be upset about this.

"Who's coming?" the boy asked curious. He knew that sometimes on the 25th for dinner his father sometimes invited his associates and their families. He just hoped he didn't invite the one person he really didn't like.

"The Darcys. I know you have every reason not to like this but last year he didn't come so we invited only him. But if you feel that you really can't stand his presence than I will tell him to come next week" Lucius continued knowing that he would cancel this if Draco wanted it.

"He should come. I know you want to keep a good relationship with your associates…I'll just have dinner and then retreat to my room with Harry" Draco answered hoping he had taken the right decision.

"Are you sure Drake?" Narcissa asked in a concerned tone but her eyes also showed how proud she was of her son for doing this.

"I'm sure mum. I won't let those jerks get to me" he answered in a determined tone.

All the time Severus and Harry had remained silent. Severus didn't want to interfere though he was proud of his nephew. And Harry knew better than to ask any questions for now.

Half an hour later lunch was finished and Harry was outside talking with Draco.

"Who are the Darcys? How come you don't like them?" Harry asked curious. He had never seen Draco dislike a person this much…except maybe Riddle…

"They're the reason I transferred to Hogwarts. When my _friends_ found out I was gay, news spread very fast and in two days everyone in school knew. I told you once that people in Hogwarts were more open-minded…Darcy's son, Alex, goes to Durmstrang. We were never good friends…mostly ignored each other even if our fathers are associates. But after he found out about this, things became very tense. He told his father and since he has some problems against gay people he wanted me expelled. He asked for this in the school committee reunion but my father was also in the school committee and he was able to use his influence so I was allowed to stay. I transferred to Hogwarts after Alex and his other friends beat me until I was unconscious. I spent two days in a coma and after that two weeks in the hospital to recuperate. Obviously I chose not to return there. My father resigned from his post in the school committee when all he could do was get the boys suspended for a week. Their parents also had a lot of influence and my father was alone in this. Those whose children hadn't done anything and were in the school committee chose not to interfere. And I chose not to press charges since I didn't feel a trial would do me any good. So… "

Harry was speechless. He had always wondered why Draco had really transferred but he didn't think things had been this bad.

"How come you're father still works with this man?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence.

"He is an associate so he can't just get rid of him. Besides…I never allowed him to do anything against him even though he tried. Darcy is a good businessman and it wasn't him who got me in the hospital. It was his son. "

"Maybe but…"

"Harry…I know you don't understand…sometimes I don't either. Just trust me. What could I do? Press charges and have my private life on national TV? I am a Malfoy. I have a certain reputation to preserve." Draco stated, making his point clear.

"Now…why don't we go to the lake a bit and then we can get ready for dinner. I can't wait to see Alex again. He's a spoiled brat who gets everything he wants. And after everything that's happened I have a feeling that tonight will end in a fight." Draco told his boyfriend, hoping he was wrong. The last thing that he wanted was to ruin things for his father.

"What did you say their name was? Darcy?" Harry asked in a strange voice.

"Yeah, why?"

"N-nothing. I was just making su-sure I understood right" Harry answered, hoping that Draco wouldn't question him any more. Darcy wasn't such a rare name. It didn't necessary mean anything.

"Ok…if you're sure…"

Two hours later the two arrived in the living room. Draco could see Harry was very nervous about something. He had asked the other boy what was wrong but he was given the usual answer: nothing.

"Are you two ready?" Narcissa asked. She knew how hard this was on Draco but she was happy that Harry was here with him. Two minutes later they heard the doorbell.

"Richard. Nice to see you" Lucius said in a slightly cold voice, shaking the other man's hand.

"Same here. Narcissa how wonderful to see you" (**A/N** how I hate writing dialogues like this one…in which everyone is so happy to see the others…)

"Draco" Darcy said with a nod.

"Sir, Mrs. Darcy, Alex" he answered clearly showing his annoyance for being here.

"Why don't we go in the living room…" Narcissa said after all the exchanges were finished.

When they got to the living room Severus and Harry greeted them.

"Richard, meet Harry Potter. He's Draco's _boyfriend_" Lucius said, emphasizing the word boyfriend.

He was stunned by the reaction he got. Harry started to tremble, his eyes were wide and he had made a few steps backwards, while Darcy just had a look of pure shock on his face.

"Harry?" Severus asked concerned. He hadn't seen such a bad reaction from Harry except when Harry had finally confessed about the sexual abuse.

Two minutes later Darcy snapped out of his daze.

"Ah! Harry, it's so wonderful to see you again." He said taking a step towards the boy.

The moment he moved, Harry backed away then he bolted out of the room and up the stairs. A few seconds after, a door could be heard slamming shut.

End of chapter

**A/N **Sorry it's a day late I didn't have time to finish writing it and I had to type it after that. Anyway tell me what you think…please review.

Thanks to: **guardgirl123 (**I love supportive Draco as well…**), Hecate de Mort (**my guinea pig iswhite with brown hair around the neck…so was the one I had before**), Aelita E. Malfoy (**I haven't decided what to do with the Dursleys yet but thanks for the suggestions…funny…**), HPfreakout, truthxinxshadow(**my dog is afraid of cats…**), labpotter, doxie (**you'reright…Draco really looks good with Harry…**), Snake Talker, charl1e, luvbug080688, feshnie (**don't worry Draco won't die…**), Smaranda, Jen (**sorry I skipped answering your review last chapter…I don't know how that happened…I only play the piano but not professional since I am a med student…


	23. chapter 23

Disclaimer: don't own…

_Previously:_

_When they got to the living room Severus and Harry greeted them._

"_Richard, meet Harry Potter. He's Draco's boyfriend" Lucius said, emphasizing the word boyfriend. _

_He was stunned by the reaction he got. Harry started to tremble, his eyes were wide and he had made a few steps backwards, while Darcy just had a look of pure shock on his face._

"_Harry?" Severus asked concerned. He hadn't seen such a bad reaction from Harry except when Harry had finally confessed about the sexual abuse._

_Two minutes later Darcy snapped out of his daze._

"_Ah! Harry, it's so wonderful to see you again." He said taking a step towards the boy._

_The moment he moved, Harry backed away then he bolted out of the room and up the stairs. A few seconds after, a door could be heard slamming shut._

Chapter 23 

"You know Harry?" Lucius asked, shocked by what had just happened.

"Yes, we met a few years ago" Darcy said, clearly trying to avoid the line of questioning.

Before Narcissa could even tell Draco to go to Harry, both Severus and him were on their way to Harry's room.

"Harry?" Severus said when he entered the room. The boy was in a corner, knees clutched to his chest, rocking back and forth. He didn't seem to register that someone had just entered the room. Getting closer both Severus and Draco could see the tears on his cheeks and they were able to hear him muttering to himself. They were able to hear something that sounded a lot like "I'm sorry…I'll be good…I'm sorry"…it was what Harry kept repeating ignoring those around him.

"Harry…you need to calm down. No one is going to hurt you here" Severus started a couple of minutes later. When Draco realised that no matter what they did or said Harry wasn't getting any better, he pulled the boy in a hug. Harry flinched and struggled out of the embrace but Draco didn't allow him to get away. After ten minutes Harry calmed down under Draco's comforting touches, but he wouldn't let the boy go.

"Better?" Severus asked, concerned.

"Yeah…'m sorry…" the boy quietly answered, not daring to look at his unofficial guardian. It had been only one week since he had broken down in front of the man. Could he get more pathetic?

"So, what happened? Darcy said he knew you" Draco asked confused, after several more minutes of silence.

"Yeah…we m-met when I w-was twelve." Harry answered trying to end the discussion.

"Why did you react this way?" Severus asked in a gentle tone hoping to get Harry to open up to them. Draco sensed Harry was trying to leave so he hugged him tighter, keeping him near. He knew something bad must have happened. He had never seen his boyfriend react like this to anybody.

"I-I don't know. " Harry answered, obviously lying. Severus knew that Harry only stuttered when he was nervous about something or he was upset. He couldn't let this go.

"Harry…what did Darcy do to you?" he finally asked.

"Nothing" Harry answered and then muttered something that sounded like "More like what he didn't".

"What do you mean?" Draco asked him after hearing the muttered response. It was painfully obvious that they would have to drag every single word out of the boy.

"Can't we just leave it? I'll go downstairs and apologize and everyone will be happy again." Harry half yelled, getting annoyed.

"No! You will stay where you are and you are going to tell Draco an me the truth!" Severus said in a loud voice. After seeing Harry flinch he continued in a gentler tone.

"Harry…I thought there were going to be no more secrets and half-truths. And you still have to tell Draco something" Severus said, not knowing that Harry had already told his boyfriend about the sexual abuse his uncle had put him trough.

"I've already told him" Harry answered glaring. "And I thought you were keeping it a secret" he continued finding a way to change the subject.

"Harry…love…tell me what he did" Draco said, realising Harry's intentions.

After 5 more minutes of yelling and fighting, Harry finally gave in realising he didn't stand a chance.

"The summer I turned t-twelve was the first and o-only time I saw him…and his son. He had some business with my un…with Vernon and he c-came to the house to talk to him. He also…brought his s-son with him " Harry stopped, not sure if he could continue. He hadn't told anyone about that incident. It had been humiliating and it was the last time he had dared to hope that things could change.

Draco sensed Harry tense and hugged the boy tighter to him trying to bring some comfort. He couldn't believe that the Darcys were once again ruining somebody's life.

After a few more minutes, Harry was able to continue.

"V-Vernon told Darcy that he had a t-toy his son could play with while they were talking. H-he called D-Dudley downstairs…and told him to s-show Alex the toy. So Alex was brought to my r-room. I was…I was s-strapped to the b-bed. Dudley had been allowed to use the…the belt, since it w-was his birthday and he had requested it. Alex, h-he didn't find it weird or wrong. He…um….he used the belt just like Dudley, earning me a few more cuts…not that I didn't have enough" Harry ended in an empty voice.

"When Darcy came to the room to retrieve his son, all he d-did was stare for a few minutes. M-my uncle told him I was a troublemaker who needed to be d-disciplined all the ti-time, and Darcy agreed immediately. He didn't even know me and he tr-trusted my uncle…even af-after seeing all the bruises and cuts… " Harry found he couldn't continue any more. He had begun to tremble and cry again without even realising it. Seeing Darcy had brought up too many bad memories about _that_ house.

Severus, realising that Harry wouldn't continue alone, started asking question, making it easier for the boy.

"Did Darcy hurt you?"

After a few moments of silence, Harry nodded.

"He used the b-belt and placed some kicks. After that he left, telling Ver-Vernon he was doing a great job with me. I never saw him again. And after that incident…I never told anyone about the ab-abuse until I told you " Harry finished, unable to calm down even under Draco's soothing touches.

Draco felt angrier than he had ever felt in his life. How could they do that? To _his _Harry! If he hadn't known that his boyfriend needed him right now he would have gone downstairs to kill the Darcys. Nevertheless, they both saw Severus storm out of the room and in a few seconds they could hear him yelling. A few minutes later it was quiet. They could only assume that Severus was explaining the situation to Draco's parents and that the Darcys had left.

"M-maybe we should go downstairs," Harry said after 10 minutes. He didn't want to but he also knew that neither Severus nor Draco would allow him to hide in his room.

When he got there Narcissa who was crying immediately hugged him. It felt good to know that things had changed and that someone was there for him…at least for now.

The rest of the week passed without any important events…except for a few nightmares, things were fine at the Manor. For the first time Harry actually felt sad that the holiday was over and he had to return to Hogwarts and face all his problems. But he felt better knowing that Draco and Severus would be there for him whenever he needed them.

End of chapter

**A/N **hope you liked it…tell me what you think…

_Thanks to_: **lita-2003, Aelita E. Malfoy (**I'm sorry to say that my chapters won't be much longer than the usual…I just don't find the time to write so much…hope you enjoy the story anyway…**), feshnie (**I guess this answered your assumptions…don't worry Sage is fine…he'll be going to Hogwarts with Harry…**), Raven's Light (**sorry about the cliffie…I know what you mean…but it does work for the story…**), HecateDeMort, labpotter (**at least I updated sooner than usual…it's only been two days since I posted the last chapter**), guardgurl123, HPfreakout, Loev, truthxinxshadow, luvbug080688 (**was I close to your suspicions? Initially I thought of making Darcy do something worse…but…poor Harry…Vernon is enough…**), xanthofile, SnakeTalker, Ningchan (**I know…if you look at my fav stories section you'll notice that with the exception of 3 or 4 all deal with an abused Harry…there's just something about them, like you said.


	24. chapter 24

Disclaimer: don't own…

**A/N: **I am so sorry I haven't updated in two weeks but real life got in the way…exams…so I didn't get the chance to write.

_Previously:_

_M-maybe we should go downstairs," Harry said after 10 minutes. He didn't want to but he also knew that neither Severus nor Draco would allow him to hide in his room._

_When he got there Narcissa who was crying immediately hugged him. It felt good to know that things had changed and that someone was there for him…at least for now._

_The rest of the week passed without any important events…except for a few nightmares, things were fine at the Manor. For the first time Harry actually felt sad that the holiday was over and he had to return to Hogwarts and face all his problems. But he felt better knowing that Draco and Severus would be there for him whenever he needed them._

Chapter 24 

"Wow…I can't believe holiday is over" Draco said when he got to his room at Hogwarts. He had come a day early with Harry and Severus since it was easier and more comfortable then taking the train.

"Yeah…but what a holiday" Harry answered, both happy and sad. The rest of the week that he had spent at Malfoy Manor had been really great even though he had had another two flashbacks and after meeting Darcy again not even having Draco near didn't end his nightmares. But even so he had had a fantastic week.

"Looking forward to getting back to classes?" Severus asked, sensing Harry's mood change. After spending the last three weeks with him he felt even worse for ignoring the signs of abuse. He was ashamed of himself for never realising how bad Harry's life really was but also what a wonderful child he was. After these weeks and after finding out so many things about Harry's life Severus knew he wouldn't rest until Harry's so called relatives paid for what they had done…not only for the physical abuse…in all it's forms but also for systematically destroying Harry's self-worth.

"Classes…hmm…well it sounds better now that you're not angry with me all the time. Oh! I wanted to ask you something. Can Dumbledore object to me bringing Sage at school?" Harry asked while playing on the bed with his new guinea pig, Sage.

"No, don't worry. He already knows about Sage. Besides if you weren't allowed, I'd take Sage in my room" Sev told Harry, smiling at the boy. Harry had been so happy to receive Sage and whenever he was upset he would relax playing with the small animal.

"Oh…ok…thanks" Harry answered, started to unpack his **new** clothes. Most of the things he had from the Dursleys had been thrown away while the rest that could still be used…sort of…had been given to some homeless children.

"Why don't I leave you unpack and I'll see you at dinner"

"Ok. Bye uncle Sev"

"Bye Sev"

"Finally alone!" Draco said with a grin then pulled Harry in a long kiss. He had tried going a bit further with Harry but things didn't turn out well. The minute his hands reached Harry's zipper the boy started to tremble and mutter, pleading to be left alone. They had discussed this of course and though Harry insisted that they should move on and that he would be fine Draco knew his boyfriend wasn't ready. And in the end he didn't mind that much. His relationship with Harry was much more that physical intimacy.

Two minutes later the boys were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Draco asked, trying not to sound very annoyed for being interrupted.

"It's Hermione and Ron. May we come in?"

"Sure" Harry answered unlocking the door.

"So? How was your holiday Harry?" Hermione asked.

"What about me? Why not ask about mine?" Draco asked he in mock annoyance.

"Really Draco…you always spend your holidays at home. But it was Harry's first without the Dursleys" Hermione answered rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah…I know" Draco answered smiling.

"So?" Hermione tried again.

"Great. Well it had some _interesting _moments but overall it was fantastic. And look what Sev got me…among other things!" Harry answered showing Sage to Hermione and Ron and in the same time changing the subject. He didn't feel like telling them everything that had happened and everything that Sev and Draco had found out during these three weeks.

"He's so cute! What's his name?" Hermione asked after two minutes of playing with the pet.

"Sage. Anyway…what have you done during the holiday?"

"Nothing much…though I spent the last week at Ron's place. "

"And she made me study. I actually finished all my homework. Even for piano class. I can't believe it. I haven't done this since first year " Ron said with a grin though you could see in his eyes how proud he was of this.

"Draco…let's unpack later. I'm hungry…let's go to the Great Hall…dinner started 10 minutes ago" Harry suggested looking at his new watch.

"Sure. Are you coming guys?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Ron answered.

Two weeks later things had settled down. Everyone was very busy since the contest was only 5 months away. Those who also played in the school orchestra were always seen either doing homework or playing their instruments. Hermione had refused to play in the orchestra saying that it was too much work and that she didn't have enough time for this and for preparing for the contest so Draco had taken her place at the piano. Of course Harry was lead violin and Ron played the flute. All in all everyone was extremely busy and stressed.

Unfortunately for Harry the stress increased when Remus came to school to tell him that the first hearing for the trial was in two weeks. Riddle hadn't said anything yet but Harry knew things would get worse once the trial started and everyone in school would know about his home life.

"I don't understand. Why is it such an important story…can't they just leave me alone?" Harry started one night after him and Draco read a newspaper article that announced the trial against his uncle.

"I know you're upset. And I really know how you feel. Unfortunately your name is known. Not only because of your mother but also because of your achievements " Draco answered trying to calm down his boyfriend. The last two days since Remus had given them news about the trial had been awful. Harry would wake in the middle of the night, screaming. His nightmares had changed. While until then there had been memories about his life at the Dursleys now the nightmares were about the outcome of the trial. The night before it had taken Draco one hour to calm Harry down…making him understand that he was not going back. Harry's anxiety also came from the fact that he would have to testify and he didn't think that he could talk about the abuse in from of so many strangers. Draco remembered how hard it had been for his boyfriend to talk only to him, Sev and Remus.

"Better now?" Draco asked 10 minutes later.

"Yeah…it's just that I would have liked the trial to be unknown to everyone. But I guess that's impossible…" Harry answered tired of all this already.

"You should get some sleep. You haven't been sleeping right lately…"

"I know. Stay with me?" Harry pleaded, hoping for once his nightmares would go away.

"Course." Draco answered, him and Harry falling asleep almost immediately, only to be awakened 3 hours later by Harry's nightmares.

End of chapter 

**A/N** I know the chapter wasn't great but I wanted to show how the atmosphere is before the trial.

Tell me what you think…

Thanks to: **HecateDeMort, lita-2003, guardgurl123, HPfreakout, labpotter, Aelita E. Malfoy, feshnie (**the part about Sage was dedicated to you since you've been asking of him…as for Hedwig…she doesn't exist…for now…I'll think about it…**), SnakeTalker, luvbug080688, Jaimie, lampshadesrgreat, LilyPotter56, Jen-beyblade-fan, charl1e, Smaranda.**


	25. chapter 25

Disclaimer: do I really have to continue with it!

_Previously:_

"_I know. Stay with me?" Harry pleaded, hoping for once his nightmares would go away._

"_Course." Draco answered, him and Harry falling asleep almost immediately, only to be awakened 3 hours later by Harry's nightmares._

**Chapter 25**

"Are you two ready to go?" Severus asked Harry and Draco the day of the trial. It had been decided that Draco could also miss the days of school since Harry could use all the support he could get. And of course Severus would also be there…leaving some very happy people at school…because no matter how nice he was with Draco and Harry with the other students he was still the same.

"In a second!" Harry answered after failing for the third time to tie his shoelaces because of his trembling hands. Unable to stand and watch him like this Severus bent down to do it himself, ignoring the fact that Harry immediately blushed, feeling quite embarrassed.

"Thanks. Draco's already downstairs…I told him I needed some time alone." Harry said after a few moments of silence.

"You'll be ok Harry…I promise. We should go. Remus said we should meet him at court twenty minutes before the trial begins."

"I guess it's too much to hope my uncle won't be there…right?" Harry said a bit afraid of what would happen when he'd see his uncle again. He wasn't that scared of his aunt since she usually only verbally abused him and he didn't think his cousin would do anything to him in a room full of people but his uncle…

"He has to come. But don't worry, nothing can happen. Besides you know he was arrested two days ago…nobody will let him get close to you. Ok?" Severus answered, trying to calm the teen. He had lost count on how many times they had had similar discussions during the last week and he knew that Harry was really scared…he just hoped that the trial wouldn't last very long so that Harry could start healing.

Half an hour later they arrived at court. Unfortunately the press was also there and they immediately started their questions.

"Harry, is it true your uncle abused you?"

"…raped you" and so on. After a few minutes of trying to unsuccessfully get past them some police officers were there clearing the press away. Harry was shaking and was leaning heavily on Severus, his legs unable to support him. Only after they got inside the building was Severus able to start calming him down. But Draco was there first, pulling his boyfriend in a hug, murmuring soothing words, trying to calm him down. After a few minutes, Harry was calm enough though you could still notice his hands shaking.

"Are you ok?" Remus finally asked. He felt bad for having to put Harry through all this but without his testimony and his presence in court they could not win the case. The physical evidence wasn't enough…even though the abuse was obvious.

"I'm ok now. Sorry…" Harry answered avoiding to look at anyone. He was afraid of what would happen in court…the press had scared him even more…he had felt trapped and all the questions scared him…after reacting the way he had he knew for sure that he would lose. He wasn't ready to testify.

Seeing Harry begin to tremble again Draco started to talk to him slowly, trying to bring him back. He knew this would be hard for his boyfriend but he didn't think it would be this bad. He knew that when Harry would have to testify it would be even worse.

Twenty minutes later they were in the courtroom. It had been a shock for Harry to see his uncle walk in between two police officers. He shuddered when his uncle threw him a dirty look promising punishment the minute they would be alone. Harry hoped that moment would never come. After both the lawyers presented their cases, Vernon announced that he was not guilty of the charges that had been brought against him (**A/N I am very sorry but my vocabulary is non-existent in terms used in a court of law…and so is my knowledge of what exactly happens there…so…this won't exactly be like in reality…again I'm sorry**).

After this Remus was asked to bring his first witness, that being Dr. Watson, the doctor that had examined Harry two weeks before and had worked on the physical evidence of the abuse.

After swearing to tell the truth, stating her full name and answering all the routine questions, the real questioning, lead by Remus, began.

"Dr. Watson, for how long have you worked at the Memorial Hospital?"

"For 25 years."

"And for how long have you worked with abused children?"

"15. A program was started 15 years ago, with the main purpose of working with abused children.**"**

"What exactly does this include?**"**

"If a child is injured and doctors believe that those injuries are from a different cause than an accident or whatever brought them at the hospital the children are brought to us and we take the investigations further, after calling social services.**"**

"And what exactly do you do?**"**

"We take photos of the injuries, we put them in a file and the most important thing we talk with the child in order to find out more. We have specially trained psychologists and we have doctors trained especially to work with abused children.**"**

"So I am correct in assuming that after seeing Harry Potter two weeks ago you were able to reach a conclusion.**"**

"Yes.**"**

"And what was that conclusion?**" **

"After seeing the marks on his body and after talking with Dr. John Avery, Harry's psychologist, I have come to the conclusion that Harry had indeed been abused most of his life.**"**

"Thank you. No further questions.**"**

Twenty minutes later the next day for the trail was appointed. Vernon's lawyer had tried asking Dr. Watson some questions and tried to make it as if Harry's marks had come from accidents but in the end he had lost the battle when Dr. Watson said that there were belt marks on Harry's back and those couldn't come from accidents like the lawyer had intended to show.

During the questioning Harry had a hard time to keep himself from running out of the courtroom.

He had never considered himself as an abused child and hearing Dr. Watson use that word made it worse. He dreaded John's (for the man had insisted to be called John and not Dr. Avery) testimony. At first he thought he would only talk to him once so that the doctor could testify in court but after a talk with John, Severus had insisted that he kept going to sessions. He wasn't sure what exactly he was supposed to do since he didn't talk about the abuse that much…in their last session they had talked a lot about music and he had discovered that John also played the violin.

"Why don't we stop at a small restaurant in Homesgade and have dinner there?" Severus asked, hoping to get Harry in a better mood. The boy had barely said two words after leaving the courtroom and not even Draco could do anything about it. After seeing Harry shrug in response to his questions he stopped the car in front of a small restaurant and took the boys inside.

"Harry…are you ok?"

"I'm fine. It's just…w-what do you think John will say tomorrow? Is he going to talk about our m-meetings?" Harry asked, quietly.

"He's just going to talk about the observations he's made during the meetings. What you've told him won't come up in court but he will talk about your…behavior, reactions…things that point to the fact that you were abused." Severus answered trying to reassure the teen that John wouldn't go around telling his secrets.

"Why don't you two order what you want to eat?" Severus finally asked, directing the discussion to other things than those related to the trial. He knew tomorrow would be even worse for Harry since John was testifying and so was Severus himself.

End of chapter 

**A/N 1 HELP!** I AM LOOKING FOR A BETA! PLEASE, SOMEONE!

A/N 2 Tell me what you think about the chapter…I had a lot of trouble writing the second part that involved the trial… 

Thanks to: guardgurl123**, HPfreakout, labpotter, charl1e, lampshadesrgreat, Vixen Girl (**I didn't exactly understand whether you liked the story or not…**), Snake Talker, itsasledgehammer, feshnie, Jaimie, dmweasley (**interesting way to review…thanks**), lita-2003, VladLycan, black-ravenrose, luvbug080688, HecateDeMort, Smaranda. **


	26. chapter 26

Disclaimer: see previous chapters… 

**A/N **I have a BETA! So I am happy to present my first betaed chapter, thanks to **truthxinxshadow**. Also thank you so much to everyone that offered…I admit it was really hard to choose…thank you again for offering to beta.

_Previously:_

"Why don't you two order what you want to eat?" Severus finally asked, directing the discussion to other things than those related to the trial. He knew that the next time in court would be even worse for Harry since John was testifying and so was Severus himself.

Chapter 26 

The next day after the trial when Harry entered the Great Hall for breakfast there was a momentary silence. He understood it only after Hermione showed him the Daily Prophet in which on the front page was a picture of himself the day before at the courtroom and the headline was written with big letters: "**HARRY POTTER ACCUSES GUARDIANS OF ABUSE**". After seeing the reactions he got he didn't even finish reading the article running away from the Great Hall, asking Draco to give him some time alone. He didn't see the cruel smile on Riddle's lips, nor did he or any of his friends see Riddle leave the Great Hall after him.

He had been walking for a few minutes towards the football court, when someone grabbed his arms and dragged him on the side of the court.

"Poor abused Potter" Riddle said in a whisper. Harry tried to free himself but Goyle held him tightly. Harry was no match for the three students and he knew it. After the last few weeks when he had been extremely stressed and after his most recent nightmares, fear immediately took over.

"Afraid?" Riddle asked when he saw terror in Harry's eyes. Just to make it even worse he started punching Harry.

"This is just a small part of what will happen if you dare compete at the contest. HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY PLACE! " Riddle started yelling. He hadn't forgiven Harry for taking his place as lead violin in the school's orchestra. After reading the article about Harry's home life in the morning he decided that he also had to teach the boy a lesson. Nobody messes with a Riddle. His father had taught him that when he was young.

"St-stop…" Harry started when the punches and kicks kept coming. He couldn't believe this was happening. He had been in fights with Riddle before but this had never happened before. He always stopped. But this time something was wrong. It was as if Riddle's hate extended after reading about the abuse. In Harry's mind Riddle slowly morphed into his uncle and he was becoming the same small defenseless child that was being beaten by his uncle.

"You want me to stop? Really?" Riddle asked after another kick.

"And why would I do that? What would I receive?" Riddle asked satisfied to see tears flowing on Harry's cheeks. He knew that it wouldn't be long before Potter broke down and the scholarship would be his.

"Pl-please…st-stop" Harry tried again earning himself another kick. He was slowly loosing consciousness and he hoped that after this happened at least Riddle would leave him alone. Thought his uncle never did…

"I don't think so," Riddle said with malice in his voice.

"Think about it a lot Harry. If you as much as try to compete I will make your life hell." Riddle continued and with a final punch Harry was finally engulfed by darkness.

It had been two hours since Harry had left the Great Hall. Draco was becoming restless. Harry hadn't been at his first class and Draco didn't know where the other boy was. After searching for him another 10 minutes Draco decided to talk to his uncle. Now they were both heading towards the football court, that being the only place they hadn't searched.

"Draco what's that?" Severus said, seeing something on the side of the court.

"Don't know, let's go see."

The sight that greeted them was something neither would ever forget. Harry was lying face down in the snow and a small puddle of blood had formed around him.

"HARRY!" Draco yelled and knelt near the boy.

"Draco go get the Headmaster! And the school nurse. NOW!" Severus yelled seeing as Draco was not going to comply otherwise.

After Draco left, he knelt near Harry, taking his jacket of to put it on Harry. The boy had left the school wearing just a sweater and it was freezing outside. He didn't dare move Harry before the school nurse came. He couldn't believe this had happened. He couldn't believe that only a day after he had promised Harry nobody would hurt him here and now this had happened.

"Severus! What happened here?" the Headmaster asked the moment he arrived followed closely by Draco who was staring in shock at the unconscious form of his boyfriend.

Severus didn't get the chance to answer since the nurse had finally arrived. When she saw Harry she knew things were bad. But she pushed aside her feelings, immediately taking action.

"Severus we need to get him to the hospital wing. Draco run ahead and get ready two blankets. They're in the blue wardrobe near the door to my office." Poppy ordered knowing Draco was faster then her.

When they got to the hospital, she took of Harry's clothes and was shocked about what she saw. There wasn't a part of Harry that didn't have a bruise or a cut. Apparently Harry's attacker(s) had not only used punches and kicks but also a belt. His back had lashes that were still bleeding and his right wrist looked broken.

"Severus I need your help. We need to clean him up. "

"Poppy do you require assistance from the hospital?" the Headmaster asked concerned for his favorite student.

"It would be a good idea sir. I think he should be moved to a hospital. I don't have all the necessary equipment here. He might have internal bleeding sir." Poppy answered while trying to stop the bleeding on Harry's back.

After the Headmaster left to call the ambulance, Harry starting moving, regaining his consciousness.

"St-stop...pl-please" He started thinking that whoever was with him was trying to hurt him. Before anyone could say anything he started struggling against Severus's hands, trying to get free.

"Shh…Harry you're safe…calm down…shh" Severus started, trying to calm his trashing. After a minute or so Poppy came back and gave Harry a shot to calm him down. She had expected this especially after what had happened in Harry's life. Unknown to people was the fact that Poppy blamed herself for not noticing the abuse before. Harry always had answers to her questions but if one was to look closely those answer didn't always add up.

Two minutes later the Headmaster came back in the hospital followed by the paramedics and Harry was moved to the Memorial Hospital, all the time Severus and Draco being near him.

After seeing Draco's face and realizing what the boy must be going trough Severus gave him a hug, and made sure that the boy knew he wasn't alone and that Harry would be fine.

End of chapter 

**A/N **ok, so maybe you weren't exactly expecting this…I would be happy if I was able to surprise you…since I even surprised myself…this was not what the chapter should have been about…but my "hurting Harry" muse got in the way. Tell me what you think…

**Thanks to: starryone21, HPfreakout, itsasledgehammer, HecateDeMort, dmweasley, truthxinxshadow, EvenSistersWillBetray, MystressTate, SnakeTalker (**sorry, initially I had chosen you but I didn't get any emails from you and I wanted to post on Monday…am so sorry…I hope you will continue to read my story…by the way when are you updating? I so love your last story…**), labpotter, guardgurl123 (**yes, Draco and Sev will be questioned because they were first to be told about the abuse**), chisox727 (**was Riddle evil enough now? Thank you for suggesting to get him in the story more…you're right I completely forgot about the other part of the story…as for the teachers doing something…they don't know about Riddle the only one who knows is Draco. Sev only saw one fight and it wasn't that violent…**), Fangfoot, TCUDramaprincess, luvbug080688, arielle, BabyBoo0968.**


	27. chapter 27

Disclaimer: blah, blah, blah… 

_Previously:_

_Two minutes later the Headmaster came back in the hospital followed by the paramedics and Harry was moved to the Memorial Hospital, all the time Severus and Draco being near him._

_After seeing Draco's face and realizing what the boy must be going trough Severus gave him a hug, and made sure that the boy knew he wasn't alone and that Harry would be fine_.

**A/N** A very special THANK YOU goes to truthxinxshadow for helping me with the story…how come I never thought of those "….." things for ending paragraphs…see? She's great. Thanks Rachael.

**Chapter 27 **

They had been waiting for 2 hours for some news about Harry. The Malfoys had also arrived after Draco called them. They were very worried, especially since their son was almost in hysterics.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Draco asked again for the hundredth time.

"Harry is strong. You'll se, he'll be fine."

"Why aren't they telling us anything!" Draco almost screamed.

"Child, calm down. I'm sure they will tell us something the moment they can leave Harry. Now, why don't you sit down and try to relax a bit…for Harry…he needs you to be calm…" Narcissa tried, seeing her son in obvious distress.

……………

"Mr. Snape?" a voice asked about ten minutes later.

"That's me. How is Harry?" Severus asked, anxious to get some news.

"First I need to know if Harry's relatives have been informed. I can't give any information except to his legal guardians."

"I am his legal guardian. Harry has accused his relatives of abuse and the trial started about a week ago." Severus answered.

"I see. Well, my name is Dr. Marshall and I have treated Harry's injuries." The doctor said with a frown. The last thing that this child needed after being abused was to get beaten up in school.

"Is he ok?" Draco asked concerned.

"And you are?"

"Draco Malfoy, sir. I'm Harry's boyfriend."

"I see. Harry will be fine. He has a fractured rib, his right wrist is broken, he has lashes on his body, that were probably done by a belt, and bruises on 75 of his body. We've taken pictures of his wounds and have had them put in a file, so that there will be evidence if Harry will press charges against his attackers. I'd like to keep him here tonight but tomorrow you can move him back to school. I know that Hogwarts has a doctor and Harry is in no life threatening danger so he should be fine there."

"Thank you. Can we see him?" Severus asked a few minutes later, after calming himself down. Yes, Harry's life wasn't in danger but the boy was still in a hospital after someone had attacked him. And his injuries were still quite serious.

"Yes, of course. He should be waking up in a few hours. Room 245" the doctor answered

"Thank you."

……………

Severus had been shocked when he walked in Harry's room. Harry had bandages all over his body and there was an I.V. in his left arm. You could see all the bruises clearly now. The doctor had said that it would take several weeks for them to fade. His right wrist was bandaged and the doctor had said that it would be in a cast for 2 weeks. And he would have to take it easy with the violin for two weeks even after the cast was removed. Severus realized that whoever had done this had aimed very well, knowing Harry wouldn't be able to play the violin for a while. Thankfully the contest was four months away so Harry still had time to prepare.

……………

Two hours later, Harry finally opened his eyes.

"Hey…" he said in a whisper seeing Severus.

"Harry! You're awake…we've been waiting for a while" Severus answered, excitement written on his face.

"Sorry" Harry answered not meeting his guardians eyes. For the first time in months he actually felt some fear of being around Severus. And even Draco. And he didn't understand it. He knew they would never hurt him but he was still scared to talk to them.

"What are you sorry for child? " Severus asked concerned. He was glad that Draco had gone to get him some tea so he could asses Harry's situation without any intrusion. Dr. Watson had stopped by for a few minutes and so had John, who was Harry's psychologist. He had warned Severus that after what had happened the boy might reverse to what he had been like few months ago. Severus could immediately see that John had been right. Harry's eyes were full of fear…of what…he couldn't possibly imagine.

"Harry? Are you ok?" Severus asked when Harry didn't answer his question, continuing to stare at his blanket.

"Yeah. Is Draco here?" he asked hopeful to see his boyfriend.

"He went to get some tea. You're spending the night here and tomorrow morning we'll move you to Hogwarts. I'll stay with you tonight. And I think Draco will too. I doubt he wants to go to Hogwarts alone " Severus said, trying to convince the teenager that he wouldn't be alone. He remembered how he had felt after being found by the Malfoys. He wanted them to stay, but he couldn't possibly ask. The thing that had scared him most during those weeks spent in the hospital was to be alone, to be abandoned by them

"Y-you don't h-have to stay or anything. D-Draco either. I'll b-be fine here…" Harry answered not wanting to be a burden to them For some reason everything that he had started to believe during the last months was erased, and replaced with the emotions that he had grown up with…fear and insecurity.

"Of course we're staying. Why don't you go back to sleep? I'll be right here when you wake up." Severus said in a gentle tone moving his hand to rest in on Harry's forehead. He realized immediately it was a mistake when Harry flinched and cowered away from him…a small shudder going through his body.

"Shh…it's ok child, I'm not going to hurt you" Severus said, calming him down.

"Sorry. I know y-you w-wouldn't hurt me…but…"

"I know Harry. Just relax. Go back to sleep and we'll talk some more in the morning." Severus said, reassuring the boy that he wouldn't be alone.

"T-thank you" Harry stuttered, almost asleep.

……………

Around noon the next morning they were ready to go back to Hogwarts.

"Are you ok, love?" Draco asked, noticing a grimace on Harry's face. In the morning they had had a long talk and Draco was able to reassure Harry that things weren't going to change and that he wouldn't leave him. It had taken him few hours to make Harry relaxed enough not to flinch when he tried to touch him though he still did from time to time.

"Yeah…I just jarred a bruise. Where's Severus?" he asked after regaining his breath.

"Talking to the doctor."

"Ok " Harry answered, after that falling in a comfortable silence.

…………….

"Are you ready to go?" Severus asked, entering Harry's room ten minutes later.

"Yeah. What did you talk with the doctor, Uncle Sev?"

"He gave me some notes that I should give to Poppy. Ok. Let's go…it's a one hour drive until Hogwarts."

**End of chapter**

**Beta Note: Hey all, this is Monica's beta, truthxinxshadow, or Rachael, whatever. Just want to say that this is an AWESOME story and if you don't read it, you shall be cursed! Ha ha ha. Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this lovely story. It is very nice of you all:P Also, if you haven't read any of my stories, you should. hint hint LOL! Good day to you.) **

**A/N **Can you all imagine I reached chapter 27? When I started of course I didn't get any reviews because…let's admit…the beginning of the story is sooooo boring so I almost stopped writing…glad I didn't…

**Thanks to: truthxinxshadow, itsasledgehammer, labpotter, dmweasley, SnakeTalker (**hmm…where's the chapter…starts crying…update your story soon…thanks for continuing to read this story…you are one of my most faithful reviewer…**), chisox727, guardgurl123 (**you'll have to wait for the next chapter for the answer to your question…the **talk** will take place then…**), lita-2003, xanthofile, Fangfoot, HPfreakout, where-my-wand, feshnie, luvbug080688 (**I know…it was so not nice of me to beat Harry up again…but it works with the story…I am actually starting to feel sorry for my own character for what I'm putting him trough…**), charl1e, Smaranda.**


	28. chapter 28

**Disclaimer: **not mine…

_Previously:_

"_Are you ready to go?" Severus asked, entering Harry's room ten minutes later._

"_Yeah. What did you talk with the doctor, Uncle Sev?"_

"_He gave me some notes that I should give to Poppy. Ok. Let's go…it's a one hour drive until Hogwarts."_

Thanks to my lovely beta **Rachael** for reading this so fast so I could post it at 6:30 am before going to University (some people have called me crazy for this).

**Chapter 28**

After a one-hour drive, they finally arrived at Hogwarts. Harry had fallen asleep almost immediately after they had left the hospital, and seeing him sleeping so peacefully, Severus didn't bother to wake him up, carrying him to Hogwart's hospital. He knew that after the boy woke up, they would have to talk about what had happened. Harry hadn't told them who had attacked him and had kept silent mostly about the whole problem. John, Harry's psychologist had told Severus to expect this.

Two hours later, Harry woke up, a bit confused to where he was. Looking around a bit, he recognized Hogwart's infirmary, and he was glad to be out of the hospital. He didn't really enjoy his stays there and lately he seemed to go there quite often. It had been horrid when he went to Memorial to take all the tests that Dr. Watson insisted he should take and worse when she made him spend the night there. Of course, at least then he wasn't in any pain, now though…things were a bit different. He dreaded the talk with Severus. He had been reluctant to talk about Riddle's attack at the hospital and his guardian had allowed him not to talk about that, but now nothing was going to stop the conversation from taking place.

…………..

"Ah! I see you're awake Mr. Potter. "Madam Pompfrey said, walking out of her office to check on her patient.

"I'll just go inform Professor Snape. If you need anything I'll be in my office." She continued after making sure Harry was comfortable and that he didn't need anything.

10 minutes later, Severus was there. Harry was a bit disappointed that Draco was not with him. He hadn't seen him since this morning at the hospital and he would have liked to have some company. '_Half a year ago you wouldn't have complained. Stupid…why would he want to be with you? Isn't it enough that he spent the night at the hospital. Stop being such a burden!' _Harry thought, while his guardian walked towards him.

Apparently some of his feelings of disappointment showed on his face since Severus knew exactly what to talk about.

"Draco will come see you in 10 minutes. The headmaster wanted to talk to him about something. How are you feeling?" Severus asked concerned.

"Okay." Was the immediate answer, though the grimace of pain on Harry's face didn't show the same thing.

"How about we try again? And this time try to be sincere child." Severus asked, while raising his hand to rest it on Harry's forehead. Of course, before the answer, Harry flinched quite violently, a blush immediately covering his cheeks.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"No need to be. I know you can't control these reactions. But we worked trough them once and we can most definitely do it again…you need to trust me and Draco… you won't go through this alone. Now…I know you don't want to talk about this…but I need to know. Who did this?" Severus asked hoping Harry would try to move on.

"Why does it matter? I know they won't do it again…"

"So it was a group attack?" Severus asked, knowing he should have guessed. After finding out the extent of his injuries he should have realized that one person couldn't have done this alone.

"Kind of. Please Sev, can we talk about this some other time?" Harry pleaded. He had hoped that it wouldn't be that difficult to talk about this but in the end he realized that all this had brought out too many memories and insecurities and he felt too vulnerable and weak to talk about all this.

"I will not let you keep this inside. Harry…you kept the abuse from your relatives a secret for 14 years. All it got you was pain and whether you want to admit it or not mental trauma as well. You hate being touched, yelling scares you and reminds you of your horrible childhood. You can't let this last development of your life do this to you again. Please…_trust me…_let me help you." Severus answered to Harry's pleadings. By the time he finished talking, Harry was crying and holding his guardian's hand in a death grip, as if he was afraid he would leave.

"I-I'm sorry. I j-just….I-I can't do this. I w-want it to end. N-no more Vernon , no more trial. I just w-want everything to end." Harry said, between sobs, while Severus rubbed his back in a comforting manner.

"I know. But don't bottle everything. I know you don't like talking about your private life with people but Draco, John and myself are here to listen to you, to help you deal with this. "

Ten minutes later, Harry was finally calm again. He had been in such a state that he didn't even notice Draco walk in the hospital room, or Severus's head shake towards Draco so that the other boy would give him a few more minutes alone with his charge.

"Now, are you ready to talk about this?" Severus asked again.

"I-it was R-Riddle and his friends. I-I was walking towards the football court wh-when they grabbed me from behind. Goyle or Crabbe not sure which one, th-they held me down and Riddle started punching me. H-he said that I deserved what my uncle had done to me, a-and he just wan-wanted to finish the job…" Harry started, dissolving into tears again and unable to continue.

When Severus realized that he wouldn't get anything else he signaled to Draco, who was waiting by the door, to come in.

"Harry, I'm going to leave you with Draco while I go talk with the Headmaster. Ok?"

"Yes. " Harry whispered feeling almost safe when Draco hugged him.

………..

Two hours later, when Severus arrived in the hospital room, he saw that both Harry and Draco were asleep on Harry's bed, Draco's arms protectively around Harry's waist. He knew that Draco had, and would continue to do everything in his power to help Harry move over this.

There was just one thing that he really hated now and that was the fact that Riddle and his friends hadn't been expelled. The Riddle family was very influential and they had "forced" the school board that had had a meeting for the last hour in giving very low punishments for such grave acts. Riddle, Crabbe and Goyle had only received two weeks suspensions, and they had to write an apology letter to Harry. How unfair was that? In a normal institution they would have been expelled and the police would have been involved. Nevertheless, the Headmaster had assured Severus after the meeting that things wouldn't remain like this and that he would to everything in his power to punish the boys like they deserved.

But right now, Severus had to work in helping Harry with his recovery and with the trial. In two days time he and John would be testifying, and Remus said that in a couple of weeks it would also be Harry's turn. He knew that winning the trial depended a lot on Harry's testimony and he hoped that after this incident Harry would still be able to do it.

**End of chapter**

**A/N **hope you all liked the chapter…

Thanks to: **Kilikapele, guardgurl123, HPfreakout, SnakeTalker, dmweasley (I wouldn't share), luvbug080688, lita-2003, HecateDeMort, itsasledgehammer, labpotter, shola (poor harry…riddle is so not out of the picture…I have evil plans…), deesje (bad hurting muse, keeps getting in the way:)) Fangfoot, Smaranda (I am so, so evil…). **


	29. chapter 29

Disclaimer: not mine…you should know that already…

**A/N** Thanks Rachael...especially for changing that little mistake at the end of the chapter…and for the advice about the question that I asked…

Previously:

_But right now, Severus had to work in helping Harry with his recovery and with the trial. In two days time he and John would be testifying, and Remus said that in a couple of weeks it would also be Harry's turn. He knew that winning the trial depended a lot on Harry's testimony and he hoped that after this incident Harry would still be able to do it._

**Chapter 29**

Two days after getting out of Memorial Hospital, Harry was allowed to leave the infirmary, with the promise to see Madam Pomfrey the moment he felt ill. The other reason for this was that the trial was taking place that afternoon and Harry had to be there.

The bruises that he had from the beating were starting to fade and the cuts on his back had begun to heal. His worse injury right now was his wrist. Harry had been devastated to learn that he couldn't play the violin for another four weeks. And it was even worse when Severus told him that Riddle was still in school. Harry had changed a lot after the incident. He was still very jumpy with anyone but Draco and Severus and he rarely disagreed with anything as if not wanting to upset the person and earn a punishment. John had visited him the day before and they had talked for a few hours about what had happened. It was decided for Harry to see John twice a week now since it was obvious that Harry was deeply affected by the last beating and that it brought up a lot of unwanted feelings.

… … …

"Ready to go?" Severus asked.

"I guess. Draco will be here in two minutes. Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to him. But that was half an hour ago so I'm sure he'll be here sure" Harry said, a bit defensive.

"Ok. Did Poppy give you anything for the pain?" Severus asked, seeing Harry wince.

"Yeah but I can't take the painkiller more than twice a day, and I have to wait 'till tonight. Besides, I'm fine…it's nothing too bad."

"If you're sure…"

"Sorry about being late. Professor McGonagall wanted to talk to me about the concert. Oh! Harry she wants to see you tomorrow at 10. I told her you'd be available. As far as I know we have a break from 10 to 12." Draco said in a hurry.

"Yeah…do you know what she wants to talk about?" Harry asked, dreading the answer. He knew that in his condition he probably would lose the place in the orchestra and would probably lose the contest also but he had hoped that McGonagall wouldn't do that to him.

"I have no idea. I'm sure it's nothing bad." Draco answered, knowing what Harry was thinking about.

… … …

One hour later they were back at the courtroom, waiting for the judge to arrive. The first to testify was John and then Severus. Harry was extremely nervous about what the two would have to talk about.Twenty minutes later Remus started his questioning.

"Dr. Avery, for how long have you known Harry?"

"He has been my patient for two months. I work at the Memorial Hospital with abused children and Dr. Watson sent him to me."

"And what have you found out about Harry during this time?"

"Harry is a fantastic kid. He's a very talented violin player. But, he has a lot of problems that he needs to overcome."

"What do you mean?"

"He has certain reactions that demonstrate that he has been abused. First of all he had a fear of being touched. He never initiates any touch except with those that he actually feels safe with…and I think that's about four or five people. And I am not one of those people. "

Harry was having a very hard time listening to this. He knew that John was right, but hearing it like this made it seem worse. They had talked about his fear of being touched the day before and Harry had admitted that besides Draco and Sev the only people that could hug him without him flinching were Narcissa and Hermione…sometimes.

"Besides this, he also has trouble trusting anyone. Due to the fact that the people that were supposed to care for him never showed him any care, he has developed a defense mechanism, never letting anyone close. He doesn't trust therefore he doesn't get hurt. It's a common defense mechanism that you see at abused children. "

"Thank you. Has Harry ever admitted that his uncle abused him? "

"Once or twice, yes. It took a lot of talks before Harry was able to tell me this, but once he realized that he could trust me he told me. "

"Thank you, no further questions." Remus said, a few seconds later.

"Dr. Avery, has Harry Potter talked to you about the abuse?" Vernon's lawyer asked.

"As I said, he admitted the abuse once or twice."

"But did he tell you what form of abuse? Because my client is accused of verbal, sexual and physical abuse."

"No he didn't. But I doubt he was talking about the verbal abuse."

"Please keep these opinions for yourself sir. So he never told you that Mr. Dursley sexually or physically abused him?"

"No, he did not" John answered with a sigh, few seconds later.

"Thank you, no further questions." Vernon's lawyer said with a sneer.

… … …

In the end, because the judge had been late, it was decided that Severus would testify during the next meeting that would take place a week later. By the time the meeting was over, Harry was almost catatonic. He hadn't said anything since the end of John's questioning and Draco was becoming very worried. He realized that things could have gone better but he trusted Remus enough to know that things were going to be ok in the end.

"Harry come on, we have to go." Severus said after everyone had left the hall. Harry was staring at the floor and he was shaking. A minute after Severus talked, he finally said a sentence.

"We're g-going to lose, a-aren't we!" Harry asked in a whisper, his voice shaking. He knew that John had done everything to show that he had been abused, and he didn't blame him but he was scared of the outcome of this questioning.

Seeing Harry was starting to rock back and forth and that he was losing the fight with the tears, Remus tried to calm him down.

"Harry, listen to me. We are _not_ going to lose the trial. Trust me. I know you think it didn't go very well but it went fine. Dr. Watson's testimony last week helped a lot. And Severus and Draco's testimonies are also very important. You have my word that we won't lose the case. Ok, kiddo?" Remus said in a gentle yet firm tone. He didn't tell Harry that it was his own testimony that could actually change the course of the trial. If Harry didn't admit the abuse during the trial all would be lost. But in the state that he was in now, this was the last thing that Harry needed to talk about.

Two minutes later, Harry nodded, though you could tell by the shaking hands and the tears that came from time to time to his eyes that he was extremely nervous and scared.

"Ready to go now?" Draco asked 5 minutes later keeping Harry in a loose hug, trying to calm him down.

"Yeah. Sev? C-could we go to Hogsmead before Hogwarts? I j-just need some time and I don't want to go th-there yet..." Harry said. Not meeting Sev's eyes.

"Of course. Remus, do you want to come with us?"

"No, I have to meet a client in about an hour. I'll talk to you tonight though."

"Ok."

**End of chapter**

**A/N **so…what do you think? Was it really bad? I enjoyed writing it even if the dialogue during the trial took me ages to write…please review…

**Thanks to: guardgurl123, dmweasley, feshnie (**I promise I won't kill Harry…but as you said…the author is mean and I have big plans with Harry…grins evilly**), lita-2003, magicrules, HPfreakout, labpotter (**Riddle will get punished…at one point…before that…well I still need him in the story…poor Harry…**), Kilikapele, BabyBoo0968, shola, luvbug080688, HecateDeMort, truthxinxshadow, Smaranda (**I haven't forgotten you still owe me at least a chapter from your story…ever going to update!


	30. chapter 30

**Disclaimer: **don't own…

Previously:

"_Ready to go now?" Draco asked 5 minutes later keeping Harry in a loose hug, trying to calm him down._

"_Yeah. Sev? C-could we go to Hogsmead before Hogwarts? I j-just need some time and I don't want to go th-there yet..." Harry said. Not meeting Sev's eyes._

"_Of course. Remus, do you want to come with us?"_

"_No, I have to meet a client in about an hour. I'll talk to you tonight though."_

"_Ok."_

**A/N **Special thanks to Rachael (**truthxinxshadow**…go read her stories) for being my beta and for the reviews that she always sends with her return emails.

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 30**

When Harry arrived to Hogwarts Hermione and Ron were there, waiting anxiously to find out what had happened in court. Severus led Harry to his room while Draco explained the situation to his friends. He knew the last thing that Harry wanted was to talk about the trial. In Hogsmead they had visited the music shop where Harry had spend an hour choosing some CDs. During the ride back he had been very silent and now he looked half-asleep.

"So how did it go?" Hermione asked after Harry had left. She became instantly worried when Harry barely acknowledged her and Ron.

"Not so well. Dursley's lawyer made it look like John really didn't know anything about the abuse. Though Remus thinks it isn't that bad, Harry had a panic attack after the trial and it took us twenty minutes to calm him down. And have I told you that he's barely talking!" Draco finished with a shout. It was becoming increasingly hard for him to keep calm. He wished he could just take his lover away from this. After seeing the tears in Hermione's eyes he realized whom he had been shouting at. These were Harry's best friends. They were probably just as upset.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. It's just…" Draco trailed off.

"Don't worry about it, mate" Ron said.

"It's ok Draco. I know how hard this must be. Listen, you know you can always come see the both of us when you need a break, right? This can't be easy on you either and maybe it would be good for you to stay away from Harry for a couple of hours until you calm down. " Hermione answered, knowing that the last thing that Harry needed right now was to feel guilty for Draco's behavior.

"You're right. I'll just go tell Sev that I'm with you…Harry's probably asleep anyway. And then you can tell me what's been going on here…it seems like years since I've actually talked to you guys." Draco said with a smile.

"Ok. We'll see you in the Great Hall" Ron said.

… … …

When he arrived in Sev's room he wasn't surprised to see him on the couch, with Harry curled next to him. Harry had tear tracks on his cheeks but he looked like he was actually peacefully sleeping for once.

"Hi Sev." Draco said in a whisper.

"Hey. Harry fell asleep 10 minutes. He was pretty exhausted and I didn't want to leave him alone. Besides he kept fighting going to sleep so I told him he could stay near me while I read a book." Sev said in a whisper in order not to wake his charge up.

"Ok. I just came to tell you that I'm with Ron and Hermione. I-I just need a bit of time alone." Draco said feeling guilty.

"Do you think it's wrong? I mean…I just need some time to calm down…and Hermione's right I'd just hurt Harry right now." Draco finished.

"Of course it's not wrong Draco. This isn't only hurting Harry, and I know that this relationship is very hard to maintain. Go have some fun and I'll come see you when Harry wakes up. I'll keep him in my room tonight. You'll probably see each other in the morning. I'll remind Harry of his meeting with Minerva,"

"Is he coming to class tomorrow?" Draco asked. Harry hadn't been to classes since the incident with Riddle.

"Yes, he'll go to every class except violin. During that time he'll be in the library doing his homework. Madam Prince has been asked to supervise him during that period of time." Severus explained.

"Kay. Well I'll see you in the morning."

"Draco, you can come sleep here if you wish. I didn't mean that you weren't welcome here. And I know Harry would feel safer if you were here too." Sev told the boy seeing the sad look on his face.

"I think I will. See you in a few hours."

… … …

Three hours later, Draco returned to Severus's rooms. When he didn't see anyone in the living room he immediately panicked having expected to see both of them still on the couch. He ran to Harry's room and got even more worried when he didn't see him there.

"Sev!" Draco yelled.

"In the bathroom Draco. Can you bring me a clean shirt for Harry please?" Sev said in a tired voice.

When he arrived in the bathroom he saw Harry shivering violently and the distinct smell of vomit could be sensed in the room. Sev was rubbing soothing circles on Harry's back, trying to calm him down, while Harry was crying silently.

After handing the shirt to Sev, Draco finally found his voice.

"What happened?" he asked in a gentle tone not to scare his boyfriend more. Whatever had happened must have frightened him extremely. Harry always reacted like this after very severe nightmares or during really bad panic attacks.

"He had a nightmare. Don't know what about. Help me clean him up, will you?" Sev asked.

"Kay. Harry…are you better now?" Draco asked in a gentle tone.

He wasn't surprised when his boyfriend only nodded, not bothering to talk while the tears were finally stopping.

"Come on, let's clean you up and then you can go back to sleep love." Draco said.

"Ok." Came Harry's whisper. He was still shaking though not so violently. He hadn't had such a bad nightmare in a while. It wasn't that it was much different than his others but it felt much more real, as if every punch could be felt and every word that Vernon said in his dreams was true.

… … …

One hour later, Harry was fast asleep in his room. He had his own room in Sev's quarters since he spent half his time there. Draco and Severus were cleaning everything up, both silent, thinking of what had just happened.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Draco asked. "I don't mean now, but maybe after the trial."

"I don't know Draco. If you want me to be honest, I don't think he'll ever be ok. Better yes, but ok…I doubt it. And I know you think the same way as much as you deny it. " Severus said in a sad voice. He knew that the trauma that Harry had suffered through out his life wasn't something that he could just heal from. But he trusted Draco and he knew that with his help Harry would at least have the chance to have a semi-normal life from now on.

"I know. I just feel so…so helpless. I don't know what to do. I have no idea how to help him." Draco said annoyed.

"You're doing fine. Keep in mind that he gave you his trust only one month after you guys met. Think of how much has happened since then. If you hadn't been there for him, he would have crashed." Severus said, trying to reassure his nephew.

"Thanks Sev. I'll go get some sleep now. I'll be in Harry's room if you need me."

"'Night."

… … …

Twenty minutes later when he went to check on Harry he found him in Draco's embrace both boys in a deep sleep. He thought of his testimony in two days and hoped that things would go better than today because he wasn't sure how much more Harry could take.

**End of chapter**

**A/N** tell me what you think. Did you like it?

**Thanks to: labpotter, dmweasley (**unfortunately I can't do anything about the shortness of the chapter…I really can't make them longer…sorry**), guardgurl123, feshnie (**well Harry doesn't trust John yet as much as he trusts Draco or Sev…besides the story wouldn't be the same if everything went smoothly for Harry…**), lita-2003, luvbug080688, shola, HecateDeMort, charl1e, The Yaoi Critic (**I really thought we were finally past that…really now…if the story was like Life that nobody would have read it till chapter 29…**), LenJade, HPfreakout, Hambares, Ivory Ravyn, Smaranda. **


	31. chapter 31

**Disclaimer: **not mine…

_Previously:_

"_Twenty minutes later when he went to check on Harry he found him in Draco's embrace both boys in a deep sleep. He thought of his testimony in two days and hoped that things would go better than today because he wasn't sure how much more Harry could take."_

**A/N: **I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Tell me what you think. And to those of you who celebrate Easter this weekend: Happy Easter! And thanks to Rachael for helping me with this.

**Chapter 31**

The next day Harry went to see Professor McGonagall. He was nervous about the upcoming discussion knowing that it was probably related to his injured wrist and the fact that he wouldn't be able to play for a while.

"Good Morning Professor McGonagall." Harry said politely after entering the classroom.

"Good Morning Harry. I see Draco told you about the meeting. "

"Yes ma'am."

"Now…I wanted to talk to you about the orchestra. Unfortunately you won't be able to play the violin for a while. But, you are my best player and I wouldn't want you to miss the opportunity especially since this contest is important. "

"That's ok Professor. I know you can't allow me to play after not practicing for almost a month." Harry interrupted her, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"What I _meant_ to say is that for now Riddle." McGonagall continued, like she was disgusted with that name "will take your place. When you start playing again, I will listen to how both you and Riddle play and I will decide who takes the place in the orchestra. But Harry I don't want you to worry…I am sure you will do fine…you're an excellent violin player and all the inter-contests have shown who the better player between you and Riddle is. But even if you don't get the place you still have the single competition and we'll start working on that when you can play. I will make sure that you get a scholarship. You deserve it." McGonagall finished with a smile.

"Thank you. It really means a lot to me. I would have liked to be able to play right now," Harry said. Playing the violin had always relaxed him. And now with everything going on he really needed it. Riddle knew exactly what he was doing when he broke his wrist…that was definitely not an accident. He just hoped that at one point Riddle would pay for all this.

"I know Harry. Now, I believe you have to leave. What time do you have to be in court?" McGonagall asked.

"In one hour. Only Severus is going to testify. Draco and myself will testify next Tuesday. And then I think after this _they_ will testify." Harry answered. He was very scared of what they would say. He didn't even think about his own testimony. He and Remus had talked about it a couple of times but whenever Remus would try to ask questions like they were in court Harry would just freeze, or have a flashback or even back away saying that he wasn't really abused. And although Remus was hiding it well he knew that the lawyer was very concerned about the outcome of this trial.

"Ok then. I'll see you in class. Good luck today." McGonagall said with a gentle smile. Although she couldn't show obvious favoritism all the teachers knew that Harry was her favorite student and she cared for him a lot especially since the Potters had been good friends of hers after leaving Hogwarts.

… … …

"Are you ready?" Remus asked Harry, Sev and Draco before stepping in the courtroom.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Sev answered. He hoped that today would help Harry's case more than John's testimony.

"Then let's do this. Just answer everything like you did when we talked last night and everything will be fine. "Remus said trying to encourage Severus. He knew that a lot of how the case went from now on depended on this testimony.

… … …

"Mr. Snape, for how long have you been Harry's teacher?" Remus asked.

"For 5 years. He started Hogwarts when he was 11 years old."

"And during this time did he tell you anything about what was going on at his house?"

"Not until this school-year."

"How did you find out?"

"My nephew, Draco Malfoy, came to Hogwarts this year and he became friends with Harry. After noticing Harry's nightly nightmares he came to talk to me. I advised him to talk to Harry about the nightmares. A few weeks after Draco came to me and told me that Harry told him he was severely abused when he was home. Because of the fact that I was also abused when growing up I could relate to Harry so we started spending more time together. After a few weeks he opened up and he told me about the abuse. " Severus finished.

"And did he tell you who was abusing him?

"Yes. He said that his uncle was the one who abused him. And he was also the one that encouraged Dudley, his son to beat him whenever he wanted. "

"Thank you. No further questions."

"Mr. Snape. Did Harry tell you on his own that he was being abused?" Vernon's lawyer asked.

"I am not sure I understand the question." Severus asked, definitely not as confused, as he appeared to be. He knew very well what the lawyer was getting at and he would not allow himself to be manipulated like this.

"What I meant was did he tell you that he was abused or did you perhaps pressure him into telling you this?"

"He came to me, telling me that he wanted to talk. He told me that things were not great at home and that his uncle hit him. I believe that is an admission of abuse sir." Severus answered, becoming angry.

"Mr. Snape please keep your opinions to yourself. My client is accused of sexual abuse. How did you find out about it?"

"Harry spent the winter holidays at my Manor. He had a flashback while he was there and when he was finally calm I asked him and he admitted it."

"Did he actually say it?"

"Yes. "

"No further questions." Vernon's lawyer said, upset for not being able to catch Severus in any of his traps. (**A/N: **He's a bit dumb anyway…so how could he:))

"I have one more question, Your Honor." Remus pleaded.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Snape, what is the reason for which Harry spent the Christmas holidays with you? "

"He didn't feel safe going back home so I offered to have him. And after the holidays I became his legal guardian and will remain so if we win the trial." Severus answered.

"Thank you."

… … …

Two hours later Draco, Harry and Severus were having dinner in Sev's quarters. Harry was in a better mood than he had been for the last few days. Sev's testimony had gone even better than expected and Remus had told them that if everything went like this the trial would end well.

"Draco, let's go watch a movie or something. I haven't seen 'Mione and Ron for a long time. I miss them."

"Ok. We'll see you tomorrow Sev."

"Bye kids."

Half an hour later the four were watching a comedy while Harry relaxed and tried to forget about his problems at least for a couple of hours.

**  
End of chapter**

**Thanks to: HPfreakout, starryone21 (**I am not very sure how long this will be…I have the ending in my mind…sort of but I still have lots of things before that. as you can see I give a lot of details and the action moves slowly so I am not sure but I think you'll get at least 10 more chapters…**), HecateDeMort (**well Riddle isn't gone yet, is he:)**), shola (**eventually Harry and Draco will be ok…but that's not happening for now…poor Harry has to suffer first and I am not done torturing him.**), BabyBoo0968 (**can't say if they win or not though I think they will…haven't exactly decided yet**), charl1e, guardgurl123, LenJade. **

_**Beta Note: REVIEW:P (You know you want to!):) **_


	32. chapter 32

Disclaimer: not mine

**A/N**: I am very sorry it took so long for me to update…I've had lots of tests at the University so I just didn't have time to write. Hope you like the chapter (even though it's so short). Special thanks to Rachael (**truthxinxshadow**) for getting back to me so soon!

**Previously: **

_Two hours later Draco, Harry and Severus were having dinner in Sev's quarters. Harry was in a better mood than he had been for the last few days. Sev's testimony had gone even better than expected and Remus had told them that if everything went like this the trial would end well._

"_Draco, let's go watch a movie or something. I haven't seen 'Mione and Ron for a long time. I miss them."_

"_Ok. We'll see you tomorrow Sev."_

"_Bye kids."_

_Half an hour later the four were watching a comedy while Harry relaxed and tried to forget about his problems at least for a couple of hours._

**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 32**

It was 2 days after Sev's testimony when Harry had his first encounter with Riddle. Harry hadn't been in the Great Hall for meals ever since being released from the hospital, but now that he had moved back to his and Draco's room he was starting to get back to the routine.

"Hey Potter! Been in any accidents lately?" Riddle asked with a malicious grin attached to his face.

Harry didn't bother to answer, being too busy trying to slow down his breathing and calm down. Luckily for him, Draco was with him and took him away to Sev's room. Draco hadn't allowed Harry to go anywhere alone in fear of another attack. If he couldn't be with his boyfriend, Ron or Hermione were always taking his place.

"Are you ok?" Draco asked several minutes after. Harry had calmed down considerably but his hands were still shaking quite badly.

"'M fine" Harry answered while leaning in Draco's hug.

"Do you want me to get Sev?"

"No, don't bother him. Besides, I'm ok. I just forgot all about Riddle with the trial and all. " Harry answered, trying to reassure his boyfriend that things were indeed well.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Harry answered with a smile and then kissed his boyfriend. "And I'm hungry. Let's go to the kitchen. I didn't get to finish lunch and I want to get something to eat" Harry said with a grin. Having Draco near had made it so much easier. Though the encounter with Riddle had had its negative effects, Draco's presence had helped tremendously. And even though he would have liked to talk a bit with Sev about how he was feeling after this he didn't want to bother his guardian. He had already imposed enough after spending the last week in his rooms.

"Ok, then. Let's go! We have Sev's class in two hours. I can't wait to hear Hermione play."

"What's she playing?" Harry asked. He had to admit that lately he hadn't been paying much attention to everything going around school. He also knew that some of his grades had started to drop. He dreaded the results at his last three tests. He hadn't been able to concentrate at all and he was sure he was going to fail his History of Music test. And it made it worse now because the last thing that he wanted was to disappoint Severus and with his last tests he surely would.

"She'll play the song for the contest. Sev wants to test her so he decided to make her play in class today." Draco answered.

"That's great. I can't wait to hear her play. And when am I going to hear you play, Mr. Malfoy?" Harry asked grinning.

"Why, at the contest Mr. Potter. Like you didn't know that already you brat." Draco answered, giving Harry another kiss.

"Fine, fine let's go." Harry finally said.

…. …. …

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter why are you ten minutes late?" Severus asked in a threatening tone. He wasn't upset just because they were late to his class but he had also been very concerned about them. After what had happened to Harry only one week and a half before he was even more worried about both of them.

"We…um…that is…" Draco stuttered, trying to find an excuse. After having lunch, the two had returned to their room and Harry had fallen asleep. All the sleepless nights were certainly taking their toll on him. And after watching Harry sleep for 5 minutes, Draco had also fallen asleep. But Harry had a nightmare, luckily not a very violent one and they had woken up in time to be only ten minutes late.

"We…we fell asleep sir" Harry answered braver than he actually felt.

"I see. I hope for your own good this will not happen again. Now sit down, you have disturbed my class enough." Severus answered, though both Harry and Draco remarked his tone was much softer. They knew that Sev would understand, after all, he had seen Harry's nightmares and he knew about the boy's sleeping situation.

"Thank you sir." Both of them answered.

… … …

Class was finally over and everyone was still amazed by Hermione's playing. She had been fantastic. You could tell she spent hours a day practicing. Lately her friends didn't see her that much since she spent all her time either in the library doing homework or in the music room practicing. The contest was only three months away and a lot of the students were working harder than ever.

"Mr. Potter, please stay behind." Severus said. "Mr. Malfoy can also remain if you wish."

Two minutes later they were in Sev's office waiting to see what the man wanted to talk to them about.

"Harry, Professor Binns, gave me your test results today. And so have Professor Flitwick and Trelawney."

Severus said in a gentle tone. He knew that Harry had had so much on his plate during the last months that studying was the last thing that he thought about. But the fact was that the contest wasn't his first problem anymore but passing this year together with his classmates. He knew that teachers understood Harry's situation but they couldn't do much when Harry didn't write more than five lines at his tests.

"Oh?" Harry said, trying to suppress a flinch. He knew he had failed them but he had hoped that maybe Sev wouldn't find out so soon. He was slowly blowing his chances with Severus. How many times would he be forgiven?

"I think we need to talk," Severus said, noticing how tense Harry was becoming.

**End of chapter**

**A/N **I know nothing much happened but it's just the chapter before some angst comes. I though I'd end the chapter here and make it sort of a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review…

Thanks to: **shola (**don't worry I won't torture him much more though this last idea with the grades sound like fun…I'll have to elaborate on it**), HecateDeMort, UnfortunateFortunate, cherrity, Wiettis (**thank you so much. I know what you mean about skipping studying to reading fan fiction…I almost failed my Uni entrance exam because of this…I am honored that you liked my story so much**), HPfreakout (**thank you, means a lot for me**), guardgurl123 (** don't worry he will…I wouldn't make him lose his orchestra spot…I think…**), GWL, LenJade (**I might do a flashback next chapter...I have some ideas but I won't guarantee it**), Angel the Devil's Daughter, luvbug080688, horsecrzy, Savage Amazon (** thanks for the offer and the review but I already have a beta. Her pen name is **truthxinxshadow** go read her stories they're great!**), Syan Draciae Alyssa, Razz (**I know the beginning of the story was really horrible, thank for reading it even so…**), Mary (**well…if there's one thing I've learned since starting to write this is to ignore flames. I know the story isn't amazing but I never said it was. And what's this with reading stories with only more than 300 reviews? There are so many fantastic stories that have less reviews because they don't have enough chapters or because the authors are unknown…)**, Smaranda (**thanks for answering all my legal questions on my birthday).


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: don't own

**A/N **I dedicate the chapter to my cousin Smaranda. You should all thank her since she was the reason why I actually finished the chapter today. Hope you like it. Tell me what you think. And of course huge Thank You to Rachael for sending the chapter back so soon so I could repost this so fast.

_**Previously:**_

_Two minutes later they were in Sev's office waiting to see what the man wanted to talk to them about. _

"_Harry, Professor Binns, gave me your test results today. And so have Professor Flitwick and Trelawney." Severus said in a gentle tone. He knew that Harry had had so much on his plate during the last months that studying was the last thing that he thought about. But the fact was that the contest wasn't his first problem anymore but passing this year together with his classmates. He knew that teachers understood Harry's situation but they couldn't do much when Harry didn't write more than five lines at his tests. _

"_Oh?" Harry said, trying to suppress a flinch. He knew he had failed them but he had hoped that maybe Sev wouldn't find out so soon. He was slowly blowing his chances with Severus. How many times would he be forgiven?"_

"_I think we need to talk" Severus said, noticing how tense Harry was becoming. _

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 33**

"Harry, are you listening to me?" Sev asked, seeing Harry had started to tremble.

"I-I'm sorry….please, I'm sorry…" Harry started to mutter after a few moments. Severus realized that Harry was having another flashback and did his best to get Harry out of it. But hugging Harry proved to be a mistake since the teenager bolted away from him and in a corner where he continued to rock himself back and froth. In the end with the help of Draco who kept talking to the boy, Harry was able to calm down a bit but not enough to leave the corner where he had hidden himself.

"Harry, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you." Severus started when Harry seemed to be able to listen to him.

"Do you think we can have this talk now or do you want to come over tonight and spend the night in your room in my quarters…?" Sev asked.

"To-tonight. Can I go now?" Harry asked in a small voice. He felt so embarrassed for the reaction he had had. He knew Sev must be so disappointed in him now.

"Ok. I'll see you tonight and we'll have dinner in my room. Draco you can also come."

… … …

"Are you sure you're ok now?" Draco asked, while they were walking to the Great Hall.

"I'm fine. Really. It was just a stupid flashback you know that. The trial, the contest, everything is just making me so nervous. And we have to testify the day after tomorrow. I don't know if I can face Vernon. "

"Just remember that both Sev and I will be there with you." Draco said, trying to soothe him.

"I wonder how long it is until Severus decides he's had enough."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, dreading the answer.

"N-nothing." Harry stuttered realizing he had said that aloud.

"No, what did you mean?" Draco asked. Could Harry have less self-confidence? Did he actually think that Severus would leave him…that after a while he would get fed up with Harry and shun him?

"I didn't mean anything by it. Really."

"Harry…you realize that Sev cares for you right? And that he wouldn't leave you?" Draco said, trying to make the other boy understand. By now they had stopped walking and they were sitting on the floor in one of the deserted corridors.

"Of course I know that." Harry said though his eyes betrayed him. Harry couldn't even look at Draco and his boyfriend realized that though Harry had made so much progress during the last few months some wounds had not even begun healing.

"I wish I could believe you Harry. I also know that I can't really change your mind but I want to ask you a favor. Talk to Sev about your feelings. " Draco tried.

"Why? It won't do any good. Let's go. I don't feel like talking about this Draco. Besides, I'm in enough trouble in classes as it is I don't need to be late." Harry said ending their talk. Draco knew that he couldn't win so he let it go.

… … …

20 minutes before dinner, Harry knocked on Sev's door. Draco had decided not to come in order to give the two some privacy.

"Hello Harry." Severus greeted.

"Hi." Harry muttered, looking at the floor. He was a nervous wreck and he hoped that he wouldn't break down in front of his guardian again.

"Let's eat first and then we can talk. Ok?"

Dinner passed quickly and Harry barely touched his food. Sev knew the boy was nervous so he didn't push him. Once the dishes were clean they settled on the couch, Harry drawing his knees up to his chest in a defensive manner.

"As I said, your professors have come to talk to me regarding your grades." Sev started, watching Harry's tense posture with a sad look in his eyes. No matter how much he had tried during the past months, Harry hadn't opened up completely to him and in moments like this he would still wait for the blows to come.

"What d-did they say?" Harry asked.

"You're failing all your classes except piano and violin. And…well even in my class…your last theory test was a mess." Sev said with a sigh. He knew Harry had so much on his mind but they had to get him at the same level he had been before or else he would be loosing any chance to get a scholarship.

"I-I'm sorry." Harry muttered.

"Harry I know these last few months have been very hard on you and that you're worried about the trial and all but if you continue like this…some teachers are afraid that you won't be able to pass this year." Sev answered.

Harry looked up at him in shock. He knew that his grades had been dropping but he didn't think it was this bad.

"W-what?" he asked, hoping he had heard wrong.

"We'll just have to workout a schedule for you to get you back on track." Sev answered.

"Ok. C-can I still compete at the contest?" Harry asked dreading the answer.

"Of course." Sev answered with a smile.

"Now. Would you like to tell me what exactly happened this morning?" Sev asked, trying to get Harry to open up a bit.

"Not really. I don't feel like talking about that right now."

"Ok Harry I won't push you. But you know you can come to me if you want to talk, ok?" Sev asked with a sigh.

"Yeah."

… … …

Two days later Draco and Harry were both in the courtroom talking quietly with Remus.

"Draco, just answer truthfully like you did when we talked last night. I know you're nervous but don't worry. "

Ten minutes later, Draco who was the first to testify was answering Remus' questions.

"Draco, for how long have you known Harry?"

"Since September when I transferred to Hogwarts."

"And how did you find out about the abuse?"

"Harry kept having nightmares and I started to suspect that something was wrong. On Halloween night he told me that his relatives abused him."

"Did he tell you what kind of abuse?" Remus asked.

"Verbal, physical and emotional."

"Besides that day did Harry ever talk to you about the abuse again?"

"Yes, on Christmas Day. He told me his uncle had raped him." Draco answered, looking over at Harry who was trembling. He wished this was over and that Harry didn't have to go through the questioning.

"Thank you, no further questions."

Vernon's lawyer decided that it would be better not to ask any questions. He realized that Draco had been taught well by the lawyer and he wouldn't be able to trap him. He also knew that Harry's testimony was the only one that could ruin this case. He hoped that Vernon looked intimidating enough to scare the child or he would definitely lose. And in the end he realized that it didn't matter too much. It was obvious that Vernon had abused the child and he belonged to jail. He knew his job was to defend him but deep inside he knew that he hadn't been doing his best. And who could blame him?

After a 20 minute break during which Harry tried to relax a bit, his questioning began.

"Harry, for how long have you lived with your aunt, uncle and cousin?"

"S-since I was one and my parents died in a car crash."

"Could you describe a bit your living conditions?" Remus asked, hoping Harry would be able to do this.

"I-I lived in a cupboard u-under th-the stairs for the f-first 10 years I was with th-them." Harry stuttered.

"THAT'S A LIE. HOW DARE YOU BOY! AFTER ALL WE'VE DONE FOR YOU!"

"Mr. Dursley that's enough! Mr. Reynold, please control your client. Another outburst like this one and he will be watching the trial from his jail room. " The judge said, clearly angry.

"Yes Your Honor. I'm sorry."

"Your Honor I request a 20 minute break." Remus said, seeing Harry had started to rock back and forth.

"Of course."

"Harry, listen to my voice." Sev started, trying to calm the teen down but Harry's eyes were unfocused and he kept rocking, unaware of anything around him. After 10 minutes of talking to him the child finally acknowledged them and started to silently cry.

"Shh…it's ok. You'll be ok…Shh..." Severus said, holding him. When the 20 minute break was over, Harry still hadn't said a word but he went in the courtroom again.

"You said you lived in a cupboard under the stairs. What about food? Would you say you were well fed?"

"Y-yes." Harry answered.

The moment Harry answered, Remus realized that he had lost. Harry was too scared to answer and he couldn't really blame him. Dursley's outburst had been for a reason.

"Harry, I have to remind you are under an oath." The judge told him. He believed that Harry was abused but the kid had to testify. He also knew that unless the child talked about it Vernon would be free and Harry would have to return to them.

"Now, were you well fed at your relatives?" the judge asked.

After being silent for a couple of minutes, Harry finally answered. "N-not really."

"What do you mean by that?" Remus asked.

"I g-got food every couple of days wh-when I w-was little and then a few su-summers back they st-stopped feeding me. I us-usually got food from the gar-garbage." Harry stuttered.

"When did your uncle start hitting you?"

"W-when I was four."

"Did he do anything else before that?"

"So-sometime he yelled. And he called me a fr-freak and stuff," Harry answered, finding it harder to talk. He didn't think he could finish this.

"Did your uncle do anything else to you besides starving you, calling you names, and hitting you?" Remus asked. This was the one question that Harry was never able to answer.

"Yes," Harry whispered.

"Can you tell me what he did?" Remus asked in a gentle tone.

"Wh-when I was little…h-he used to…" Harry started but couldn't finish. Tears were falling down his cheeks and he just couldn't make his voice work. How could he say this and then look at Sev and Draco again? They had told him many times that it wasn't his fault but hadn't he let his uncle do that to him? He felt disgusted with himself…he couldn't tell the judge about that.

"Harry? What did you uncle do?" Remus asked again. _Come on Harry you can do this. Don't let him win!_ Remus thought, watching Harry struggle.

"H-he used to touch me…"

"Touch you where Harry?" he knew that he had to ask many questions. Harry wasn't able to talk about this alone.

"Where h-he wasn't sup-supposed to. M-mostly when I was hav-having a bath." Harry whispered though everyone heard. The courtroom was in silence.

"Besides touching you did he ever do anything else?" Remus asked, trying to make his own feelings about the matter go away.

"St-starting with my twelfth birthday…he…he st-started to… to r-rape me." Harry finally answered.

"Did it happen only once or more?" Remus asked knowing that it was finally over.

"A couple of ti-times a week. I was away du-during the year besides su-summer since I was going to Hogwarts so he said…he said that he had to…to make up for the lost ti-time."

"Harry, I only have one more question for you. Did your aunt ever abuse you?"

"Sh-she was the one who starved me…and so-sometimes she would also hit me."

"Thank you Harry, no further questions." Remus said, proud of Harry.

"I have no questions either Your Honor," Vernon's lawyer said with a small smile. He had lost the case, but in the end he was happy about it. The child had been through too much and he couldn't make him repeat everything again. Vernon deserved to rot in jail and besides… he knew he couldn't win even if he twisted Harry's testimony against him.

"Very well then. Harry, thank you, you are excused. The verdict will be given in two days time at 9 o'clock." The judge said.

… … …

The moment he was near his guardian and boyfriend he was pulled in a tight hug. He silently cried on Sev's shoulder while the man whispered nonsense to him, trying to calm him down. 20 minutes later, Harry fell asleep. Severus didn't have the heart to wake him up, carrying him to the car where Draco told him to put him in the back. The ride back to Hogwarts was silent, Draco running his fingers through Harry's hair, thinking of the day's events.

**End of chapter**

**Beta Note: OHH! I just loved this chapter! One of the best ones yet, eh? And because it's soooo good, that means… REVIEW! Yeah! Lot's of reviews! (Oh, and you could go and read/review MY stories… just a thought:P) -truthxinxshadow-  **

Thanks to :**feshnie (** nice to hear from you again**), HecateDeMort, HPfreakout, Mystical Moonstar, BabyBoo0968, 123456789, theTigersFire (**glad you started reading it again**), Agnus Dei (**thanks for threatening me…see I updated **), Lydia Blue, shola (** you have to admit I was really nice to Harry…**), guardgurl123 (** sorry but since I've started exams I will be updating once every two weeks for quite some time…**), vote-larry4prez (** I am happy you like the story…loved the extra long review**), LenJade, twidledee(** it's nice getting so many reviews…glad you like the story!**), Smaranda (**Happy Birthday!


	34. Chapter 34

**Previously**

_The moment he was near his guardian and boyfriend he was pulled in a tight hug. He silently cried on Sev's shoulder while the man whispered nonsense to him, trying to calm him down. 20 minutes later, Harry fell asleep. Severus didn't have the heart to wake him up, carrying him to the car where Draco told him to put him in the back. The ride back to Hogwarts was silent, Draco running his fingers through Harry's hair, thinking of the day's events._

**Chapter 34**

When they arrived to Hogwarts, Sev carried Harry to his room and left him with Draco while he went to talk to the Headmaster.

A few hours later, Harry woke up a bit disorientated. He could feel someone's hands around him so he immediately tensed up.

"Shh…it's just me, Draco" the boy said, feeling Harry was starting to struggle.

"Hey. Sorry about that. I didn't know where I was." Harry answered, feeling foolish.

"It's ok. Why don't we have something to eat and then Sev said he wanted to talk to the both of us." Draco said.

"Ok."

… … …

Half an hour later, Severus came back. He smiled at the two teens who were sitting on the couch, Draco's arms around Harry's waist in a protective embrace.

"Feeling better Harry?"

"Yeah…sorry about the whole court thing. I don't know what came over me" Harry answered, not looking at Severus.

"It was a normal reaction. I wanted to talk to both of you. Harry we need to make a schedule for you to get your grades up. So I talked to the Headmaster and he agreed to allow you to sleep here from now on. You are still allowed to sleep in the room you share with Draco but I feel that it would be much better if someone was to supervise you."

"I guess…" Harry said though he felt like he was being punished for something that in a way he had no control over.

Severus, reading Harry's reactions very well, continued.

"Don't take this as a punishment. I am not mad at you. I just want to make sure that you get your grades up. Ok? And if you feel uncomfortable with anything that happens here I want you to tell me."

"Ok. Will I still have the sessions with John?" Harry asked.

"Yes, though I talked with him yesterday and he moved your sessions on Friday nights. And Dr. Watson called this morning before we went to court and she said she wanted to see you next week for a checkup."

Severus said. Harry had been seeing Dr. Watson every 3 weeks. After Dr. Watson had realized how thin Harry was she had made a lot of tests to him and in the end Harry had to take vitamins and some pills.

Unfortunately, because he had been malnourished and undernourished for most of his life his body wasn't as strong as it should be. His immune system was not what one would describe as well and he had trouble putting on weight because his body had had so little…but things were getting better.

"Again?" Harry groaned. He liked Dr. Watson but he hated being in the hospital with passion.

"Yes, Harry again" Severus said with a small smile.

…. … …

Then next morning the three of them and Remus were ready to listen to the verdict.

"Before I give my verdict is there anything that you wish to add Harry?"

"No, Your Honor" Harry added shyly.

"Mr. Dursley?"

"I jus want to say that I regret nothing! I did what I did because the boy was a freak! He should have died with his parents!" Vernon started yelling and continued until he was restrained by the guards.

By that point however Harry was shaking like mad and neither Draco nor Severus could do anything to calm him.

"Harry…I need you to listen to me" Severus tried. Seeing no reaction he tried to hug him but Harry began to struggle and scream. Everyone was watching the scene with interest and some had tears in their eyes.

In the end John sedated Harry and told Severus to take him back to Hogwarts.

Several hours later, while Harry was still asleep Remus called to tell them the verdict. Of course Vernon was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years of prison though he was able to get out on probation in 5.

… … …

"Harry are you ready?" Draco yelled from the living room.

It had been two weeks since the trial and things were slowly settling. The contest began in half an hour and both boys were very nervous. Harry was glad that at least he didn't have to worry about Riddle anymore. Severus had caught Riddle attacking Harry again right after the trial. This time not school governor could help him and the boy had transferred to another school.

"Yeah I'm ready. I hope everything goes ok…I am so nervous. What if I forget the piece? What if I make a foul of myself?" Harry started and was silenced by Draco with a kiss.

The two were slowly working on their relationship but it would be a very long time till they would do anything more than kissing. Harry couldn't handle much physical contact and Draco respected that. He continued his sessions with John and things were a bit better but John had told Draco after he had asked if Harry would ever be ok that he would probably always have some problems…things like this didn't go away.

… … …

Draco played the piano beautifully…he had chosen a piece by Rachmaninov in the end and it sounded fantastic. His parents who of course had come to the contest were more than proud. And Severus gave one of his rare smiles after the performance.

Hermione had also done very good and she would probably win even after Draco's performance.

Harry of course was extraordinary. People couldn't stop clapping after his piece. He had played a piece by Vivaldi and it had sounded more than fantastic. Everyone could see that he felt the music…that he lived for it.

The orchestra also did good having played a violin concert by Brahms but Durmstrang School had played better and the students knew it.

Two days after the contest ended the winners for every instrument were announced. Of course Hermione had won her scholarship and so had Harry. Draco was a nervous wreck. He knew that he had played the saxophone very well but he wasn't sure he could win. Ron knew that he would win…half of the participants had made little mistakes while paying the flute so he was quite confidant.

"Will you calm down? You're going to win!" Harry said, trying to get his boyfriend to settle down. He had been pacing for over half an hour.

"But what if I lose? I mean you already know you've won and you were expecting it anyway but what if…" Draco continued. It was a rare thing to see him lose his Malfoy calm in public.

"You'll be fine love. Let's go, they're about to announce the winners."

Of course Draco had also won the scholarship. His mother had tears in her eyes when she came to congratulate him and Harry. She was proud of her son and even more so of Harry for being able to accomplish this after everything that had happened.

… … …

"You guys had better write during this holiday! And you can call me…I mean…that's if umm…that's if you want to of course." Harry finished shyly.

"Of course we will" Hermione said, feeling a bit of sadness creeping in. She hated the way Harry would lose his self-confidence like that. They had been friends for years and yet he didn't expect them to call?

"And we'll see each other on the train to Guildhall" Ron continued.

"Bye guys…see you soon." both Draco and Harry said while the other two turned to leave with their families.

… … …

"Harry are you ready?" Severus asked. He was taking him and Draco to Malfoy Manor where they would spend the first week of holiday. After that he had planned on taking Harry on a small trip to the ocean since the boy had admitted that he had always dreamed to see it. After that they had no real plans…he just wanted to give Harry a nice holiday…his first real one.

"Yeah I am…" Harry said sadly.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm just going to miss this place I guess…"

"I know…but it's not that far from Guildhall and you can come visit me here anytime you want…you know that." Severus tried, hoping to cheer him up.

"I know. Well we should go…Draco's probably waiting for us downstairs."

The two went downstairs where they met a very cheerful Draco. He had been like this ever since finishing with the contest four weeks before. Harry had also been able to graduate with his schoolmates and his grades were once again very good. It had taken long sleepless nights to get there but it was worth it. His sessions with John were getting better and they had helped in his relationship with both Severus and Draco. He was opening more to the both of them and the nightmares were slowly going away. All in all Harry thought it had been a good year…and the next would certainly be much better.

**THE END**

**A/N **Ok…well I wasn't really planning on finishing the story…but I'm not into fan fiction that much anymore and I really wanted to finish this story…I was thinking that a sequel would be good with Harry's summer but I'm not sure I'll ever get to writing that…if anyone wants to that's fine just tell me so I can read it too lol.

The songs at the contest were:

**Rachmaninov – Prelude in C Sharp Minor, Op.3 No.2**

**Vivaldi – Concerto for Violin & Orchestra in A Minor, Op3 No6**

**Brahms – Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77 Adagio**

I thought maybe some were interested in this…I know Vivaldi was a bit predictable but I am in love with anything Vivaldi and I put my favorite ones here.

**And last I want to thank everyone who read/reviewed this story…as it is the last chapter I will not make the usual list because I know there are a lot of people who read the story and didn't review and I am very grateful to those also…**

**I know it's the last chapter but please review…I know it wasn't the best but just drop in a line…Thanks you again.**

**And of course the last thank you goes to Rachael **truthxinxshadow **(go read her stories) for reading this for me and helping with it!**


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